Thursday, May 3, 2012

Settlement may bring EV infrastructure to California

In an unforeseen upside to the electric-power market crisis of 2001, a new proposed legal settlement between utility NRG and the California Public Utilities Commission would bring more than $100 million in new electric-vehicle charging infrastructure to the state.
Under the terms of the settlement, announced Friday by the commission and the Greenlining Institute, an advocacy group, NRG would be installing at least 200 public fast-charging stations and the infrastructure for 10,000 plug-in units at about 1,000 locations across the state. Some of the new equipment would go to low-income neighborhoods, where such infrastructure is in very short supply.
The plan was submitted Friday to the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission, which must approve the plan.
The Los Angeles Basin would receive 110 fast-charging "freedom stations" under the plan, as well as other infrastructure. San Francisco would receive 55 stations, San Diego 20, and the San Joaquin Valley 15. Twenty percent of all the new gear for electric vehicles, or EVs, would go to low-income areas.
"It's really exciting, and I think it could be a real game changer in California," said Nancy Ryan, deputy executive director for policy at the Public Utilities Commission. "A lot of automakers are preparing to introduce EVs. We’ve got the [Nissan] Leaf and the [Chevy] Volt on the market right now, but there's quite a few more that are supposed to come in next year. We hope it'll help the automakers sell cars: There's going to be a lot of infrastructure in California. If you buy an EV, you’re going to be able to get around."
In 2001, a series of blackouts and brownouts across the state revealed the vulnerability of the grid to manipulation by unscrupulous traders and led to new scrutiny of spot markets and the long-term power contracts signed the state. One of the most egregious offenders, Texas-based Enron, later famously imploded in one of the biggest corporate accounting scandals in U.S. history.
The Public Utilities Commission began, Ryan said, "vigorously litigating and pursuing settlements" to regain money paid by the state and utility customers, and has settled dozens of suits in the last 10 years.

Read more: http://www.latimes.com/news/local/environment/la-me-gs-settlement-brings-ev-infrastructure-to-california-20120430,0,881719.story

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