Portland General Electric wants to spend up to $10 million in ratepayer money to help build charging stations for heavy-duty electric trucks. But after a regulatory misstep by PGE, the Public Utility Commission has hit pause to scrutinize the plan, which includes an announced project with Daimler Trucks North America.
The development doesn’t figure to derail PGE’s efforts to
invest in big-rig charging, which in broad terms fit with state policy
objectives. But it could influence the shape and timing of projects, although
the “Electric Island” charging site with Daimler is expected to be energized as
planned in April.
PGE (NYSE: POR) and the truck maker in December said they
were working together on a first-of-its-kind public truck charging facility on
Swan Island, where Daimler is developing plug-in big rigs.
The announcement caught the attention of staff at the PUC
because PGE had not filed a required tariff, utility-speak for an explanation
of the arrangement to deliver services to Daimler.
“In the case of Electric Island, PGE did not bring the
Electric Island partnership to the Commission for public inspection,” PUC staff
wrote in a report earlier this month. “This creates concerns about authority,
unjust discrimination, and preferential treatment.”
PGE was notified of the issue in January. In February it
formally fessed up to the mistake, saying it had “anticipated additional
legislative and regulatory authority to engage in such projects, but that
authority did not materialize within the expected timelines.”
At the same time, PGE filed a tariff that would give
nonresidential customers opportunities to develop charging sites that support
heavy-duty vehicle charging levels over 1 megawatt. The utility outlined a plan
to invest $10 million in projects, and with Electric Island nearing completion,
asked the commission for expedited action.
Truck electrification is a state priority, and
commissioners, at a PUC meeting earlier this month, were sympathetic to PGE’s
eagerness to move quickly to develop a program that “supports the development
of optimal charging solutions and grid integration for such vehicles and
infrastructure as we prepare for broad commercialization,” as the utility put
it.
But commissioners agreed with staff that a closer look at
PGE’s plan was warranted. In a March 12 order, the commission suspended the
tariff indefinitely, although the Electric Island project will apparently move
forward as scheduled, with rate recovery subject to review in the utility’s
next general rate case.
“I just have a lot of questions about the structure of the
tariff being a blanket ‘Let’s spend $10 million of ratepayer dollars’ and not
have much clarity about what that’s going for, or why that amount of money is
needed or exactly what benefits we’re going to get out of that,” Commissioner
Mark Thompson said. “I have a lot of concerns.”
In the deal with Daimler, PGE spent $1.5 million in
distribution system and “make-ready” improvements to allow for installation and
operation of charging stations.
The utility’s plan, filed in February, outlined further
investments along the lines of the Electric Island deal, limited to $5 million
for each customer in the program.
In its filing, PGE said getting an early start in big-rig
charging, with its potentially large power needs, would help it understand and
cost-effectively mitigate grid impacts.
Similar to passenger EV growth, the company made the case
that truck charging, if smartly handled, could produce new revenue to support
the electric system, in turn reducing the cost burden for other ratepayers.
“PGE ... believes these early learnings will help accelerate
the deployment of new transportation electrification technologies, bringing new
load to our system,” the company said. “Projects may also generate other
monetary benefits, including Clean Fuels Program credits and new retail
electricity revenues.”
