NV Energy has filed a $348 million transportation electrification plan, which includes funding for electric vehicle purchase incentives, new charger installations and a managed charging program.

The company filed the plan with the Public Utilities Commission of Nevada (PUCN) on Sept. 1 as part of a proposed amendment to its 2021 integrated resource plan. The commission has 165 days to issue an order on whether to accept, modify or reject the plan.

NV Energy’s proposed transportation electrification plan is a follow-up to the company’s Economic Recovery Transportation Electrification Plan (ERTEP), filed in September 2021. The $100 million plan included a network of EV charging sites throughout the state. (See NV Energy Gets Green Light for $100M EV Charger Plan.)

Both plans are required by Senate Bill 448 from the state’s 2021 legislative session.

The proposed transportation electrification plan covers 2023 and 2024. It allocates $348 million, with 45% going to personal vehicle programs and 42% going to commercial vehicle programs. The remainder will go toward education, grid integration, program management and contingency.

NV Energy acknowledged in its filing that $348 million is a “significant” amount. The money will potentially be available as a match in federal funding opportunities.

“This plan represents an intentionally significant investment to set the foundation and maximize Inflation Reduction Act funding,” the filing said. “Future plans will match future needs.”

And in written testimony accompanying the plan, Marie Steele, NV Energy’s vice president of electrification and energy services, addressed the question of whether the proposed EV infrastructure would put additional stress on the utility’s systems.

“The new load from electric vehicles is coming, whether the companies and the commission plan for it or not, and studies show unmanaged charging can occur coincident to peak.”

Personal, Commercial Programs

The plan has more than a dozen programs for personal and commercial EVs.

On the personal vehicle side, the plan proposes a $5,000 rebate to low-income residents who buy an EV with a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of up to $40,000. NV Energy has allocated $500,000 to the rebate program.

Another $4.7 million would go toward incentives for about 200 home charger installations. The incentives would cover 75% of the project cost, or 100% for low-income applicants.

In the proposed residential turnkey charging program, NV Energy would install and maintain home EV chargers. The program includes options for one single-port charger; two single-port chargers with battery storage; one single-port charger integrated with battery storage and rooftop solar; or a single-port charger that is vehicle-to-grid capable. The company allocated $14.8 million to the program — enough for about 240 homes.

The plan also offers a technical advisory program for residents, with services such as an EV savings calculator, dealer finder and a transportation electrification call center.

Some programs, such as the interstate corridor charging depot program and urban charging depot program, are carried over from ERTEP and expanded. There are also EV charging infrastructure programs for multifamily housing and workplaces.

A new addition to the transportation plan is a telematics program, in which equipment would be installed in residents’ gas-powered cars to analyze their driving patterns and the savings they’d realize by switching to an EV. NV Energy might focus the program on drivers for ride-hailing companies or food delivery services, or people with long commutes.

NV Energy has also proposed a telematics program for light-duty vehicles in government fleets.

Among other programs in the plan, a transit electrification grant and an electric school bus vehicle-to-grid trial that were included in ERTEP would be continued and expanded.

Managed Charging

Another piece of NV Energy’s transportation electrification plan is managed charging. Customers who participate in the plan’s EV charger programs would automatically be enrolled in managed charging, in which the utility can adjust the amount of power going to EV chargers based on the needs of the grid. Customers would be able to opt out of managed charging events.

Customers who already have EV chargers installed and meet certain criteria may receive an incentive for opting in to managed charging.

NV Energy will gather feedback from participating customers on managed charging and track load impacts. About $13 million of the plan’s funding is earmarked for managed charging.

NV Energy ran a demonstration project on managed charging in 2020 and 2021, according to the company’s filing. The project showed the technical feasibility of managing EV chargers at a workplace.

The managed charging program proposed in the plan “will expand on this foundation and provide more EV operational data for a broader spectrum of site profiles and use cases,” the company said.