“Contrary to widespread belief, the famous 1888 New York City blizzard was not the primary impetus for undergrounding electric lines. It was safety – and worker safety in particular – that drove undergrounding, which remains a core electric industry norm.”

The MARC 2023 conference theme, Grand Vision: Past, Present, Future, reflected the active era of federal energy policy.

“Transportation is the largest source of carbon dioxide emissions. We believe decarbonization is the fundamental driver toward an acceleration of EV adoption, good utility programs, private sector investment, and creative rate design.”

“We have ongoing dialogue with automakers, to understand better how we can assist them in bringing these vehicles to market. Whether that’s working with dealers to help them understand availability of our infrastructure programs, even in the sales process, or understanding what they are going to need, we want to make this as smooth as possible.”

“We have almost 600 EV chargers across our service territory helping inform our path forward. That next step is executing a range of tariffs for residential, fleet, and multifamily, to help customers invest in the charger network where we provide incentives or can partner with them and build out infrastructure that the utility owns and operates.”

“I worry more now about keeping up and not necessarily having to put incentives in front of customers because they’re already buying EVs. What I do have is the incentive for customers to participate in our charging management program. Making sure we’re charging in the best times, best locations on the grid that are going to make a difference for us.”

“The Indiana Commission has initiated an investigation to consider measures to promote transportation electrification. The goals are to promote affordable and equitable charging options; improve the customer experience, including reducing wait times; accelerate third-party investments in EV charging; and appropriate recovery of costs from delivering electricity to EVs and charging infrastructure.”

“In both jurisdictions by 2035, there will no longer be internal combustion engine vehicles for sale. It takes a bit longer for folks to cycle through, so by 2040, you’re going to have significantly more EVs on the roads.”

“We also work with different state agencies, the ones deploying the U.S. DOT’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funds or before that it was the VW funds. We’ll serve on committees to provide input on how to craft their programs or help promote their incentives once they’re out.”

“We have a robust transmission system in place because of the heavy industry that operated in Pittsburgh. These industrial giants have since left. Because of this additional capacity, we are well positioned to support EVs, where some utilities might have six- to eight-year challenges around rights-of-way and the building of transmission lines.”