As legislators, it is our job to pass laws that address our state’s most pressing needs. Amid the many challenges that Georgians will face in the coming years are changes in modes of transportation. My colleagues in the General Assembly and I must be prepared to enact policies that enable our state to face this challenge as efficiently and effectively as possible.
We have every reason to believe that the number of electric vehicles (EV’s) on the road will grow rapidly over the next several decades. One estimate places the number of EV’s on America’s roads by 2030 at 18.7 million. That same year, annual sales of EV’s are projected to be 3.5 million vehicles, eclipsing 20% of total vehicle sales.
Credit: contributed
Credit: contributed
Georgia is primed to serve as a model for the rest of the country when it comes to electric vehicles. More than 25,000 Georgians own electric vehicles, making us 10th in the country in terms of EV purchases. Rivian plans to build a $5 billion EV manufacturing facility in Morgan and Walton Counties. SK Innovation is constructing two massive plants in Jackson County where the company will manufacture batteries for electric vehicles, like the Ford F-150 Lightning, as Hyundai, one of SK Innovation’s most prominent partners, shifts its resources and brainpower from internal combustion engine (ICE) technology to EV innovations.
Unfortunately, many Georgians remain concerned that the EV charging infrastructure necessary to power their trips does not exist. This so-called “range anxiety” partially explains why the Peach State’s EV market has not taken off to the fullest extent possible. If we truly want Georgia to stand out as a hub for EV vehicles, we will need the requisite infrastructure to enable the efficient use of these innovative vehicles.
In addition to the essential role that power companies will play in generating the power that Georgians will use to refuel their EV’s, we also must consider the value of existing refueling stations – places like truck stops and gas stations – in meeting the growing demand for EV charging locations. Such locations are already easily accessible for Georgia drivers, offer a bevy of secondary services for customers, and, perhaps most importantly, would not require much modification to be EV-ready.
To prepare Georgia for the future of transportation, we need policies that promote cooperation between public utility companies and an array of private actors, establishing a level playing field for all interested parties. Our job as legislators is to create a balanced playing field and power companies would be given an unfair advantage if they are allowed to use fees collected from ratepayers (i.e., taxpayers) to cover the cost of deploying, owning and operating EV charging stations. All potential EV infrastructure players should be given a chance of competing in the private sector and creating a competitive advantage to earn customers’ business. This is impeded if public money tips scales to a regulated entity deploying capital against the unregulated business owners.
Moreover, power companies’ ability to subsidize the energy needed to supply the EV charging stations they own and operate discourages many private actors from investing in a market they believe is structured in favor of their regulated competition. Finally, power companies’ propensity for levying so-called demand charges (charges associated with the cost of maintaining a constant supply of electricity to EV chargers) against private retailers could serve as an insurmountable barrier to these vendors’ entrance into the EV infrastructure sphere.
We need policies that will make it easier for private businesses that already provide fuel to Georgia drivers to enter the EV infrastructure market, enabling consumer choice in the process.
It is essential that we create a legislative environment in which EV charging infrastructure can be developed as quickly and as fairly as possible. In doing so, we will carve out a lane for the expeditious development and implementation of EV charging infrastructure. With power companies focused on prepping the grid for EV energy demands and private retailers adjusting their businesses for the influx of EV customers, Georgia will be more prepared than nearly every other state for the vehicles of tomorrow.
Electric vehicles are coming, and I want our businesses and infrastructure to be prepared for them. In addition to readying our roads for EV’s, expanding EV infrastructure will open the door to the spread of other exciting technologies, like autonomous vehicles that will drastically reduce our congestion, throughout our state for years to come. There are incredible opportunities, economic and technological, in being ahead of the EV curve.
It is my hope that we enact policies which enable utilities, private vendors and individual residents to work together to capitalize on them.
State Rep. Todd Jones, R-Cumming, represents House District 25.
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