The Pennsylvania Electric Vehicle Roadmap was released by the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection’s Energy Programs Office. The Roadmap comes at an important time for Pennsylvania. Governor Wolf recently issued an Executive Order requiring state agencies to reduce their electricity demand, convert fleets to electric vehicles (EVs), and purchase renewable power generation. It also sets emission targets for the commonwealth, to reduce emissions from 2005 levels, by 26% by 2025 and 80% by 2050. Goals in the EV Roadmap and the executive order will both contribute to policy development and targets in the state’s comprehensive energy plan, which is currently being updated.
The Roadmap (available in full here), developed by the Energy Programs Office using U.S. State Energy Program and other funds, is part of a process that began in 2016 with the creation of the Drive Electric Pennsylvania Coalition. The Coalition is a partnership of state agencies, industry, communities, and academic leaders. The purpose was to provide a snapshot of EVs in the state today, identify barriers to widespread adoption, and develop policy solutions to capture benefits from reduced air and climate pollution, reduced consumer costs, economic development, and increased grid efficiency. The result is a roadmap with thirteen actions planned over three time periods. Depending on adoption rates and technology, the roadmap forecasts net benefits of $381 million to $2.8 billion by 2033.