Distributed energy resources — DERs — have made a significant impact on residential and light-duty commercial EV charging. However, DERs can play an even more critical role in heavy-duty fleet charging.
DERs are small-scale devices that can generate electricity apart from the local electrical grid. They can charge EVs, power your appliances, or even heat your home and business in case of a power outage. Power for these devices can come from a variety of sources, including:
- Hydrogen fuel cells
- Solar panels
- Gasoline-, natural gas-, or diesel-powered generators
- Wind turbines
- Biomass-burning generators
- Waste heat recovery (WHR) systems
- Battery storage systems
- EV batteries
- Micro-hydropower systems
- Combined heat and power (CHP) systems
In some cases, DER users can combine power sources to ensure a continuous supply of electricity in case one of their other sources goes out. For example, a business that uses solar panels and wind turbines to heat its offices might use a battery storage system to deliver stored energy when the weather is uncooperative.
The good news if you’re a fleet owner or manager? You can easily use your business’s DERs to power even your largest fleet vehicles. By doing so, you’ll take some of the strain off the grid while you cut costs by electrifying your entire fleet — including your heavy-duty vehicles.
Even better news: some state energy offices are supporting the effort to supply charging stations for large fleet vehicles by augmenting their power supply with DERs. Many utilities, too, have taken up the challenge by integrating DERs into their power supply. In this post, we’ll explore how both governmental agencies and private utilities have jumped on board the EV charging bandwagon to make their communities a better place to do business.
California’s Two-Prong Approach to DERs in Large Commercial Vehicle Charging
While the federal Department of Energy certainly has a vested interest in a stable electrical grid, state agencies often have a better understanding of their state’s unique needs and resources. To that end, California’s energy agencies created a two-pronged approach to integrating DERs into the state’s power sources for commercial EV charging.
The California Public Utilities Commission’s DER Action Plan
In 2016, the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) adopted the first version of the state’s DER action plan. The original version mapped out how the state would help translate the commission’s vision into action through “utility distribution planning, investment, and operations.” Its mission — to serve “as a guide for decision-makers, staff, and stakeholders” — would act as a guidepost toward California’s transportation industry’s move toward an electrified future.
Fast forward to April 2022, when the CPUC launched the plan’s Version 2.0. As more DERs emerge as helpful adjuncts to the grid, the board determined that state stakeholders needed better coordination to integrate them into the state’s utility infrastructure. This is through more efficient grid planning, making DER usage more affordable, assimilating them into the energy market, and creating customer programs that incorporate DERs.
Then, in November of the same year, the CPUC adopted a five-year program which, among other things, allotted 70% of the program’s $1 billion to build out EV charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. This move will put the DERs that the revised action plan supports into use to fuel the growing number of larger commercial EVs.
The California Energy Commission’s DER Integration Roadmap
The California Energy Commission, too, jumped aboard the DER train. In its 2021 Distributed Energy Resources Integration Roadmap, it assessed current DER usage to find barriers to adoption, developed a plan to overcome those barriers, and supported “high-value research” dealing with DERs.
This research will include enhancing grid resiliency with DERs, enabling DERs to participate in implementation planning and operations, and developing a vigorous set of publicly available data on DERs’ potential and performance.
The commission plans to implement its program through three major areas of emphasis:
- Technology that can modify local grid loads
- DER communications and control protocols
- DER strategies and tactical planning
With California’s robust approach to DER research, implementation, and integration into its energy supply, it should be a welcoming destination for trucking companies and municipal bus agencies that want to electrify their fleets.
The Kentucky Energy Security Plan
Kentucky has also joined the ranks of states that integrate DERs into its available power sources. Although the state still gets most of its power from petroleum-based sources, it has incorporated biofuels and hydrogen into its energy supply, according to the Kentucky Energy Security Plan, launched in 2022.
The plan encourages utilities to offer customized DERs to their customers to “mitigate both short- and long-term disruptions.” Having alternate energy resources to power large commercial vehicles will give the state’s fleet managers the confidence to electrify their fleets.
Kentucky’s support of both EVs and DERs has already led to more EV adoption in the state’s commercial fleets. Lexington, Kentucky, has begun to electrify its bus fleets. The state’s primary utility provider, Kentucky Power, is also promoting medium- and heavy-duty EVs among its commercial fleet company customers.
New Mexico DOT Partners with TeraWatt to Support Heavy-Duty EV Charging
New Mexico’s state legislature has already shown its commitment to integrating DERs into its constituents’ available power supply. In partnership with the trade organization Renewable Energy Industries Association, the governmental body undertook an effort to turn the state’s existing DERs into power sources that could create a more robust grid for the transportation industry as heavy-duty EV adoption rises across the state.
That effort will pay off as the New Mexico Department of Transportation utilizes a $64-million grant to provide heavy-duty EV fleets with charging stations along the state’s busy I-10 corridor. After announcing its plans to build heavy-duty EV charging infrastructure along the New Mexico stretch of the highway, EV charging company TeraWatt received the nod to “design, build, operate, and own” two new commercial vehicle charging stations.
In the works are plans for even more medium- and heavy-duty EV charging stations along the I-10 corridor. These stations will range from El Paso, Texas, to Long Beach, California. Each station will feature nine pull-through charging stalls, providing enough power for 300 charges per day.
Once those stations are up and running, the extra energy the DERs will provide can help keep the grid running as more fleet managers see the benefits of electrification. Among those benefits will be the new charging opportunities that states like New Mexico provide along their roads.
Minnesota Makes DERs a Key Component of Its Grid Modernization Efforts
Spearheaded by the state’s Public Utilities Commission, Minnesota launched a grid modernization plan that incorporates distributed energy resources. Looking at the long-term need for the state to switch from a model of “centralized power generation” to a system with distributed power sources, the commission saw that DERs could provide the flexibility such a system requires.
In addition, the more flexible system made possible by integrating DERs will go a long way toward helping the state’s Department of Transportation realize its goal of “decarbonizing transportation systems across the state.” Since medium- and heavy-duty trucks generate about 23% of the nation’s vehicular emissions, this move is a step in the right direction in achieving that goal.
Nevada’s Public Utilities Commission Supports DERS and Fleet Charging in 2024 Directive
Nevada’s largest investor-owned utility, NV Energy, sought approval from the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) to implement its three-year plan. This plan proposed to “accelerate the deployment of distributed energy resources” to support the state’s increasing energy needs, as well as new EV charging stations.
Thanks to testimony from the Interstate Renewable Energy Council (IREC) pointing out the state’s need to build charging infrastructure for medium- and heavy-duty EVs as well as for passenger vehicles, the PUCN decided to support the utility’s plans as its final order on its 2024 docket.
The decision wasn’t only a win for NV Energy. Since the order also required that “stakeholder engagement and grid transparency” enter into the equation, NV Energy’s customers — both commercial and residential — also benefited from it.
With public workshops that will help customers learn how to get enough energy from the grid to power their projects, this decision should lead to greater EV adoption among commercial fleets across the state.
NASEO Helps State Energy Offices Create Future-Proof DER Policies
The National Association of State Energy Officials created a document that outlines how state energy offices can create DER policies that help their states modernize their grids. Most states will need a grid overhaul — incorporating DERs to handle the added load that charging larger commercial vehicles will bring.
This long-form article covers distribution system planning basics and introduces state energy office personnel to activities that other offices have used to advance distribution planning. It also provides examples of how state energy offices can participate in utility regulatory proceedings to further the cause of grid modernization, including integrating DERs into the mix to create a secure future for the heavy-duty transportation industry.
Discover More About the Latest EV Charging Developments at the Summit
Using distributed energy resources to power the coming wave of medium- and heavy-duty fleet vehicles is only one of the latest developments in the EV charging industry. At the EV Charging Summit, you’ll hear the latest EV charging news from some of the top names in the field.
Don’t miss this opportunity to get ahead in this competitive space. Reserve your spot at the Summit today!
