Democratic Governor Jared Polis on Jan. 17 issued an executive order detailing initiatives and strategies aimed at facilitating a transition to electric vehicles. Polis said that the transition will support the state’s goal of 100 percent renewable electricity by 2040. The order directs the state’s Department of Public Health and Environment to develop a rule for a zero emissions vehicle program, and calls for a revised plan to allocate nearly $70 million received from the Volkswagen emissions settlement toward supporting transportation electrification. Last June, the previous Democratic Governor John Hickenlooper issued an executive order requiring the state to adopt California’s vehicle emissions standards, joining 13 other states and the District of Columbia.
The order also creates an interdepartmental transportation electrification workgroup, which will be tasked with coordinating and implementing programs and strategies to support widespread transportation electrification. Colorado is a signatory to a seven-state agreement entered into in 2017 to develop the Regional Electric Vehicle West EV Corridor spanning more than 5,000 miles of highway across major corridors to reduce range anxiety and allow smaller communities to plug into the regional system. The state offers a $5,000 tax credit for passenger electric vehicles and has a goal to get 940,000 electric on the road by 2040.
On Jan. 15, Colorado’s electric vehicle working group released a report on regulatory issues facing the development of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in the state. The report suggests that regulators should continue to review currently available cost-benefit studies even though they are not specific to any Colorado utility. The study calls for pilot projects to improve the information used for comprehensive cost-benefit analyses that may inform broader EV-related programs. The group recommends a “two-track approach” – continuing the generic proceeding that examines dynamic and emerging issues and encouraging utilities to file pilot programs and EV-related tariffs. The Public Utilities Commission tasked the working group with identifying how state regulators should address utility proposals seeking to make rate-recoverable investments in the quest for beneficial electric demand growth, as well as the type of analyses should be performed to determine cost-effectiveness.
