Advanced Fuels and Transportation
“
2020
proved to be a wild ride for transportation, as it was for everyone. In 2019 our Board adopted Low-Carbon Transportation as a strategic goal, with a focus on supporting efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled, increase advanced fuel vehicle adoption and fuel efficiency, and expand fueling infrastructure. We continue working on these efforts, but the pandemic brings some ongoing realities: people drive less, social distancing is tough on public transit, electric vehicle (EV) sales are sluggish, and the economy is uncertain. The good news is that our transportation initiatives are still relevant. The slowdown provided an opportunity to upgrade our existing EV charging sites with new equipment, with all stations now refreshed as of January 2021, using California state CALeVIP funds. The same funds are also helping to pay for some expansion: the Blue Lake Rancheria just activated four more Level 2 ports in late 2020 and we’re currently working to build out four ports at 3rd and H Streets in Eureka, and eight ports at the Arcata Community Center. These last two projects are still being designed and we hope to activate the stations in summer 2021. We also just rolled out a local rebate for new EVs in December of last year, and one for residential EV chargers will be coming out in the months ahead.
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Looking down the road for electric vehicles, new opportunities exist for a major personal expense that is parked most of the time. One of the most exciting is “vehicle-to-home” (V2H), which lets us temporarily power homes and small businesses with EVs during blackouts. On other days, we can use “vehicle-to-grid” (VTG) to charge EVs when there is surplus electricity and sell it back to the grid when demand is high. This helps to balance electricity supply and demand and provides another tool to
Share the road
NORTH COAST JOURNAL • SPECIAL PULL-OUT SECTION • Thursday, Feb. 4, 2021 • redwoodenergy.org
complement intermittent renewable energy. On the not-so-distant horizon, autonomous vehicles may dramatically redefine much of our paved environment. With car-sharing services or self-driving vehicles “on demand,” people can choose to reduce or eliminate car ownership, with its associated cost and complexity. With fewer cars around, communities can repurpose land dedicated to roads and parking, and make room for other forms of travel such as biking and walking. There will be profound community benefits as well, such as increased independence of older drivers after they give up driving.” Hosted by
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Handle will release once payment is authorized. Charging will start when plugged into car. Move your vehicle afterwards so others can use the charger.
Dana Boudreau
Director, Transportation and Operations
RCEA’s charging stations have recently been upgraded and will soon sport a new look
CHARGING ONLY
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority also sees rapid growth for diverse small-scale transportation. Design innovations in electric motors bring new capabilities such as longer range and increased carrying capacity to smaller devices such as bicycles and scooters. In Spring 2020 RCEA ran a highly successful electric bicycle (e-bike) rebate program, and we
hope to renew this program when funds allow. The timing was ideal to help people get outside to do essential errands and get some exercise in the fresh air. Electric scooters are also on the rise but based on what we’ve seen in other regions, we’ll wait until traffic codes get addressed before promoting e-scooters. In the next few years, we expect this market sector to surge as people discover the freedom and flexibility of e-mobility devices, and we will do our part to help provide choices beyond a single-occupant four-wheeled vehicle.
