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Utility companies have many strategies available to them that will allow them to sell more electricity without building new power plants and transmission lines. In fact, Southern California Edison is doing precisely that at this very moment. That’s what smart business people would do. Fossil fuel companies may complain because they see dollar bills flying out of their wallets, but utility companies should be offering everyone incentives to buy electric cars. To put it simply, electric cars will take some of the enormous profits the fossil fuel companies have been making for the past 150 years and transfer them to utility companies. How else do you explain why they are constantly pouring tens of billions of dollars into new generating plants and transmission lines? They love spending money because every dollar spent equals more money in their pocket.
ELECTRIC GRIDS UPGRADE
They get paid to spend money to upgrade the utility grid. Because they are legal monopolies, they are guaranteed a stated rate of return on their investments. And here’s a little known fact about utility companies. The more they sell, the more revenue they get. Upgrading The Grid Pays Dividends For Utility Companies There is singing and dancing at National Kumquat global headquarters, where the board of directors is thinking of giving everyone a bonus. Does National Kumquat panic? Does it demand legislation to protect it from having to meet the demand for its products? Not bloody likely. Now the total kumquat consumption on Elm Street has doubled and the old conveyor belt needs to be enlarged. Krempler soon see the benefits that wedded bliss brings and so they also decide to take spouses who love eating kumquats. Suddenly, the Jones household starts consuming two kumquats a day. National Kumquat has a government monopoly on kumquat sales and delivers them to each house on a tiny conveyor belt. Assume that electrons are really kumquats.
ELECTRIC GRIDS DRIVERS
“What right do electric car drivers have to force utility companies to spend money for the convenience of a few?” OK, since you asked, let’s try this hypothetical. “But that costs money!” the critics scream. According to the NREL study, now we have a nightmare on Elm Street and the local utility will be faced with two choices - either replace the transformer more often or upgrade it to a more advanced design that can handle a higher load reliably. Krempler across the street buys an electric car and starts charging it at home. Will that cause the nearest transformer to fail? Possibly, if both cars are plugged in at precisely the same time and charge at the same level of power.įinally, Mr. Smith next door buys an electric car and starts charging it at home. Jones buys an electric car and starts charging it at home. Let’s assume three families live on Elm Street in Anytown, USA.
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That doesn’t mean certain local factors won’t make improving grid infrastructure necessary, however. After that, system upgrades will be necessary, but we are a long way away from that 25% number right now and will be for many years to come.
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In fact, it can handle the demand that would occur if 25% of the cars on the road are electric. His research suggests the existing grid can cope just fine with more electric cars on the road. Will more electric cars cause the grid to crash? Matteo Muratori of the National Renewable Energy Lab took a look at that question recently and decided the answer is no. B) Utility companies will have to spend gazillions of dollars to upgrade the grid, which will drive up the cost of electricity for everyone just so a few swells can drive Teslas.
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Here are some of the lies you may have come across: A) Electric cars will cause the utility grid to crash. If all the stories sounded the same, that’s because they all originated from the same source. But not before publications like Forbes and the Wall Street Journal ran propaganda pieces provided by shadowy figures associated with Koch Industries. The front group for this assault was called Fueling US Forward, which was formed in 2017, then quietly shut down in October with all references to its existence on the internet deleted. According to the Washington Post, the Dastardly Duo have committed to spending up to $10 million a year to spread misinformation about electric cars and promote the advantages of fossils fuels. Usually, these “talking points” are taken straight from hit pieces bought and paid for by organizations supported by the Koch Brothers.
ELECTRIC GRIDS SERIES
The CleanTechnica Myth Buster series is intended to counteract the wealth of misinformation and outright lies about electric cars that is currently found on the internet. In this collection of articles, we respond to dozens of common anti-cleantech myths. This article is part of our “ CleanTechnica Answer Box” collection.