The federal government has pledged to invest significant funds in alternative-fuel vehicles to address climate change and reduce carbon emissions. Con Edison recognizes the benefits of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs) as a green technology offering drivers greater fuel-economy or using no fuel at all. For these reasons, the company is committed to making the transition from gasoline to electric vehicles as simple and convenient as possible.
In 2012, Con Edison had 666 electric vehicles throughout the Con Edison of New York and Orange and Rockland service territories. We anticipate that number to increase exponentially as consumer awareness rises and prices plateau. We anticipate 6,350 electric vehicles on the system by 2015, and we are preparing for as many as 70,000 to 90,000 electric vehicles to plug in by 2020. While this is a significant number of new vehicles, perspective is important. Con Edison’s customers have more than six million room air conditioners. Approximately 750,000 PEVs would have to be on the road in our region to match the electric demand of those six million room air conditioners.
Unlike air conditioners, the Con Edison infrastructure will need to support PEVs throughout the year, and our infrastructure is prepared to accommodate an increase in electric vehicles. In 2012 we worked to identify where in our own system PEVs could stress the infrastructure. We also worked with the City of New York to identify suitable locations for installing electric vehicle DC fast chargers as part of a pilot program with the Taxi and Limousine Commission. The first fast charger in the Con Edison service territory was installed in January 2013 and the second was installed in March 2013. Furthermore, the first curbside charger and third fast charger in our service territory is scheduled to be installed in spring 2013. This charger is to be located behind Con Edison’s corporate headquarters in Manhattan.
By encouraging energy-efficiency, off-peak charging, demand response programming, and distributed generation development, we will be able to manage the new loads for these electric vehicles on our grid. Con Edison will look to offer incentives to encourage customers to charge their PEVs during off-peak hours. As a step towards this effort, the Company filed a new SC2 Time of Day (TOD) rate the PSC in January 2013. It provides an adequate amount of off-peak hours for charging most EVs and can be used by residential customers that have a dedicated service for their EV.