Top US utility plans to switch out 1200 vehicles to electric versions by 2030

With inputs from Associated Press

Tennessee Valley Authority is planning to switch out 1,200 of its vehicles for electric alternatives by 2030, the utility’s CEO Jeff Lyash announced on Wednesday.

Furthering its role in the market for a power supplier, the nation’s largest public electric utility corporation presented the changeout plans within its current fleet of about 3,800 vehicles during a board meeting.

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Presenting the details, TVA spokesperson Jim Hopson said, the plan includes downsizing the fleet’s 600 light-duty vehicles to 400 electric versions, which are typically sedans and SUVs; and initially changing out 800 medium-duty vehicles, or about half of the fleet’s pickup trucks.

The utility is also evaluating reductions in the medium-duty vehicles through efficiency and retirements, Hopson said. 

Meanwhile, possible switch-out of heavy-duty ones depends on technology and price improvements, Lyash added. The changes will occur as current vehicles reach the end of their usable lives, he said.

The plan coincides with the rollout of efforts to install fast-charging stations every 50 miles (80 kilometres) along major thoroughfares in Tennessee, with the goal of starting to deploy those chargers by the end of the year and having them largely in place by the end of 2022, Lyash said.

TVA is also joining with other utilities in a coalition to connect a variety of regions with electric chargers, “from New England to West Texas, and from Detroit to Disney World,” Lyash said.

The plan is to have 80 charging locations with at least two fast chargers each across the region by the end of 2026, Hopson said.

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Meanwhile, on Wednesday, TVA’s board also voted for a $220 million plan to extend a pandemic-times credit of 2.5% to its customers, which include local power companies and large industrial entities, through the 2022 budget year with the possibility of continuing it through 2023.

Lyash said the pandemic credit for 2021 totalled $200 million, and local power companies used their share to avoid some planned rate increases; cover losses through unpaid customer power bills; and invest in infrastructure.