SUMMARY

Examination of Transit Agency Coordination with Electric Utilities

Battery electric buses are being deployed at transit agencies across the United States, with estimates of at least 1,000 battery electric buses (BEBs) already in service. This technology has the potential to reduce harmful pollutants in environments where transit buses operate and help meet ambitious climate goals. Technology improvements, such as longer-range and lower battery costs, are also driving greater BEB adoption, although the cost differential between BEBs and conventional transit buses remains high. Significant new levels of Federal Transit Administration (FTA) funding that help offset those higher capital costs are also helping to drive BEB purchases.

Battery electric buses require a fundamentally different fueling approach compared with traditional fuels such as diesel and compressed natural gas. Transit agencies are accustomed to having fuel delivered and available in advance of its being needed and to relatively predictable fuel costs. Agencies adopting BEBs face obstacles in understanding how to work effectively with their electric utility to plan and deploy charging infrastructure in a timely, cost-effective fashion. They also face obstacles in managing electricity usage and therefore the overall cost of operating their BEBs.

Electric utilities also must take on an entirely new role when working with a transit agency customer that is switching to a battery electric bus fleet. The electricity power demands and usage patterns of a transit bus fleet are different from those of a typical commercial customer.

In this process, both transit agencies and utilities must overcome a substantial learning curve. Members of these two legacy industries are working to engage with their counterparts in order to facilitate successful transit bus deployments in the United States.

This synthesis provides to practitioners and operational staff at transit bus agencies and electric utilities the state of current practices by agencies and utilities that are collaborating on BEB planning and deployments.

The synthesis presents the results of a literature review examining the U.S. electric utility industry, its regulatory framework, and available programs or policies to support transit bus electrification. It also provides the results of a literature review of available guidance, for both transit agencies and electric utilities, for working together on BEB deployment programs.

The synthesis also presents the results of a survey of transit agencies to determine the level of support from, and participation in, a range of possible electric utility programs that provide capital funding/financing, operational support, or planning support for transit bus electrification.

Finally, the report presents seven case examples of agency-utility engagement:

• Metro Transit, Minneapolis-St. Paul, and Xcel Energy in Minnesota
• Roaring Fork Transportation Authority (RFTA) and Holy Cross Energy in Colorado
• San Diego Metropolitan Transit System (MTS) and San Diego Gas & Electric in California
• Pinellas Suncoast Transit Authority (PSTA) and Duke Energy/Duke Energy Sustainable Solutions in Florida
• Charlotte Area Transit System (CATS) and eTransEnergy in North Carolina
• King County Metro and Seattle City Light in Washington State
• Missoula Urban Transportation District and Northwestern Energy in Montana

The survey of transit agencies regarding utility collaboration found that the most commonly offered solution from utilities is in power capacity evaluation, help with funding grant applications, and help with charging strategies. The next most commonly offered solutions are make-ready programs, special electric vehicle rates, and renewable electricity sourcing—although the percentage of agencies reporting access to these types of offerings is only around 30%.

The case examples represent a range of agency and utilities characteristics so as to provide lessons that can be applied across a broad range of circumstances. However, one of the key lessons learned from the synthesis is that every relationship between an agency and utility will be unique since each entity has its own governing framework, internal structures, and operating environment. Taking this into consideration, the case examples provide a number of lessons on transit agency-utility partnerships that can help other agencies and utilities work together on BEB deployments:

• Utilities operate under defined governance and regulatory structures, which will define what types of programs or policies they can offer to support BEB programs. Investor-owned utilities operate under a tight set of regulatory boundaries. They are required to serve all ratepayers in their service territory equally, which makes it challenging for them to offer special rates for battery bus fleets. Public power utilities and rural cooperative utilities have a different governance structure, which enables them to adopt special rates more readily as a mechanism to support transit bus electrification.
• At present, few utilities are offering special rates for BEB fleets, mainly because of the previously noted regulatory constraints. There are examples of agency-utility collaborations in which they have explored alternative mechanisms to help offset the fueling costs of the BEB fleet without having to secure a special rate.
• Utility support for planning, design, engineering, power assessment, and power management is the most frequently offered support for transit bus electrification programs. This up-front planning serves the utility’s interests in managing new load and minimizing the need for costly infrastructure upgrades as well as helping the agency understand the expected fuel demands of its BEB fleet in revenue service.
• Utilities that offer capital funding support for infrastructure typically require the agency to install a separate meter for the BEB fleet and provide the utility with the charging data. This serves both the interest of the utility in understanding potential demand from BEB fleets and the interests of the agency in having data that shows only the BEB fleet usage.
• It is important to start early in an agency’s BEB program planning process to establish a relationship between the agency and the utility. The time from the initial submission of interest to the utility to the activation of an infrastructure site can be 18 months or longer, depending on the project. To avoid program delays, transit agencies and utilities may even want to consider forging ties before any formal planning activity begins.
• It is beneficial to create a positive collaboration if the transit agency establishes a long-term commitment to BEBs. Having a transition plan and a timeline for scaling up the fleet,

• with a clear commitment from the agency at the executive level, will help the utility justify providing support for necessary infrastructure upgrades.
• Positive collaboration on an agency’s BEB programs is most likely to happen when the utility has a clear commitment, at an executive level, to electrified transportation. This element is especially important when working with a large utility. The local political environment can have an impact on whether the utility is likely to have made this commitment.
• Agencies may have an easier time establishing close partnerships with their utility if they are among the utility’s largest customers. Agencies that are relatively small customers may find it more challenging to actively engage the utility.
• Having a central point of contact at the utility and the agency who each own the relationship helps to establish an effective collaboration and drive the project forward. That said, it is valuable to ensure there are others at each organization who understand and support the program to keep it running smoothly if the central point of contact leaves.
• Close collaboration between the two central points of contact also helps each more easily navigate their partner organization. This is especially helpful given that some utilities and transit agencies are large organizations where it can be hard to determine the right contact for a particular issue.
• Regular meetings led by the main utility and agency staff responsible for the projects serve the relationship by promoting information exchange and allowing both entities to anticipate challenges.
• Utilities that have integrated the disparate internal programs that support transportation electrification create a much smoother experience for the transit agency partner and can help the agency avoid delays.