| Abstrakt: |
This comment argues that the Idaho Legislature should direct the Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to authorize utility investments in electric vehicle charging stations and implement time-of-use volumetric rates to encourage development of privately owned charging stations. The widespread adoption of electric vehicles in Idaho could benefit the state's economy by reducing fuel costs by two-thirds and redirecting the remaining costs back into Idaho's local energy economy. Moving to electric vehicles would also provide significant environmental benefits because electric vehicles produce far fewer greenhouse gases than gasoline vehicles. The primary barrier to electric vehicle adoption is an insufficient number of public charging stations. Idaho has a critical shortage of direct current (DC) fast charging stations--especially in state highway corridors and rural areas. This shortage is unlikely to be resolved by investments from the federal government and national charging station networks, which tend to focus on interstates and highpopulation areas. But Idaho's infrastructure gap could be addressed if local electric utilities and private businesses invested in public charging stations. This comment recommends two policy proposals to accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles in Idaho: (1) electric utility ownership of charging stations to develop charging infrastructure; (2) time-of-use volumetric rates for charging stations to incent independent business investment in electric vehicle charging infrastructure. This comment then analyzes the legal reform needed to implement those policy proposals. It considers the legal framework of the Idaho PUC, compares that to legal approaches in other states, and concludes that narrow legal reform is required to accelerate electric vehicle adoption in Idaho. Specifically, this comment recommends the Idaho Legislature shift from granting the Idaho PUC legal permission to authorize utility investments in and alternative rate design for electric vehicle charging stations, and instead issue a legal directive for the Idaho PUC to favorably consider utility investments in electric vehicle charging stations and time-of-use volumetric rates for privately-owned charging stations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] |
