Safety & Environment
Electric Vehicles
Recognizing that the transportation sector is one of the largest sources of carbon emissions in our service area and our nation, we are taking the lead in supporting the acceleration of electric vehicle (EV) adoption by our customers. We are making significant infrastructure investments to facilitate installation of thousands of EV chargers across our service area, and we offer other incentive programs to EV station operators and drivers.
We know that access to EV charging at home and on the road is a leading barrier to our customers choosing to purchase EVs. In order to help alleviate this impediment to EV adoption, in 2020 we launched a major program to support the development of widespread and visible charging stations at diverse locations across our service area such as parking lots, retail locations, apartment buildings, and workplaces. This program for smaller vehicles like cars and smaller vans is the second-largest utility program targeting the EV charging marketplace in the country. Our utilities will be investing more that $350 million including customer incentives by 2025 to develop EV charging stations in our service areas with targets as follows:
- CECONY – targeting 18,539 Level 2 (L2) plugs and 457 DCFC plugs (fast charging)
- O&R – targeting 2,845 Level 2 (L2) plugs and 71 DCFC plugs (fast charging)
In 2020 we also launched a pilot incentive program to support electrification of larger fleet vehicles such as school and transit buses and delivery trucks. Finally, in 2020 we expanded our SmartCharge NY program that provides financial rewards to participating customers across all vehicle types in our service area for charging outside of the peak periods on the grid. Last year 1,145 new cars and 15 New York City Department of Transportation (NYCDOT) buses joined the program, for a total of 3,411 cars and 28 trucks and buses participating in the program.
Additionally, we are working on two active demonstration projects that will help improve access to and viability of clean transportation. We are working with NYCDOT to test installation of curbside EV chargers to increase access to EV charging and test customer acceptance of chargers on the streets in their communities. We also have an operational vehicle-to-grid (V2G) school bus initiative that is supporting electric school buses in the White Plains school district. These buses transport schoolchildren during the school year while the buses are also being tested as grid support assets during the summer when the students are on holiday and grid needs are greatest.
In support of our clean energy commitment, our EV strategy governs the transition of our fleet of smaller vehicles to electrified vehicles. To accelerate that transition, 100% of new smaller vehicles purchased will be electrified and we will expand the availability of fleet charging stations. As a further commitment, our goal is that 100% of our small vehicle fleet will be electrified by 2040. We will also explore, through Research and Development, alternative technologies to reduce fossil fuels for medium and heavy-duty trucks.
