Solar produced 4.7% of U.S. electricity in 2022, generation up 25%

Nature-friendly offshore wind energy supports climate neutrality by reducing greenhouse gases while safeguarding marine biodiversity through EU marine spatial planning, ecosystem-based approaches, cross-border coordination, and zero-use zones for resilient seas.

Key Points

An approach to offshore wind that cuts emissions while respecting ecological limits and protecting marine biodiversity.

✅ Aligns buildout with ecological limits and marine spatial plans

✅ Minimizes noise, collision, and habitat loss for sensitive species

✅ Coordinates EU-wide monitoring, data, and cross-border siting

Offshore wind power can help reduce greenhouse gas emissions, but it poses risks for the seas. Germany will hold the EU Council Presidency and the North Sea Energy Cooperation Presidency in 2020. What must be done to contain the climate and species crises, as it were?

Offshore wind power is an important regenerative energy source with a $1 trillion market outlook in the coming decades. However, the construction, operation and maintenance of the systems put marine mammals, birds and fish at considerable risk. Photo: Siemens AG

In order to achieve the German and EU climate and energy goals by 2030 and climate neutrality by 2050, we need a nature-friendly energy transition. At present, the European energy system is largely based on fossil fuels. This is changing, as renewables surge across Europe for end consumers and industry and the large-scale electrification of the energy consumption sectors. Offshore wind energy is an element for future power generation.

A nature-friendly energy transition is only possible if energy consumption is reduced and energy efficiency is maximized in all applications and sectors. Emissions reductions through offshore wind energy In 2019, Europe had an installed offshore wind energy capacity of around 22 gigawatts from 5,047 grid-connected wind turbines in twelve countries. In Germany, the nominal output of the offshore wind turbines feeding into the German power grid was around 7.5 gigawatts, with clean energy accounting for about 50% of electricity nationwide. The wind blows much stronger and more steadily at sea than on land.

The power capacity of the turbines has also almost doubled in the last five years, which has led to a higher energy yield. Offshore wind energy is a building block for replacing fossil fuels, and markets like the U.S. offshore sector are about to soar as well. Wind turbines at sea provide electricity almost every hour of the year and have operating hours that are as high as conventional power plants. They can contribute to significant reductions in CO2 emissions and to mitigate the climate crisis.

It must be ensured that offshore wind turbines and parks as well as the grid infrastructure make a positive contribution to climate protection through their expansion and that the overall condition of marine ecosystems improves. The expansion of offshore wind energy is necessary from the point of view of climate science and must take place within the framework of the ecological load limits and under nature conservation aspects.

Seas and marine ecosystems suffer from years of overfishing, pollution and industrial use. The conservation status of sea birds, marine mammals and fish stocks is poor. Ecosystem services and productivity of the oceans are decreasing as a result of massive species extinction and unfavorable habitats. Changes in sea temperature, oxygen levels and acidification of the oceans reduce their resilience to the climate crisis.

The latest reports from the European Environment Agency show in black and white that the good environmental status and other goals of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive are not being achieved. The primary goal must therefore be to meet the obligations of the Marine Strategy Framework Directive and the EU nature conservation directives.

With the expansion of offshore wind energy, the pressure on the already polluted marine ecosystems is increasing. Offshore wind turbines also harbor risks for marine ecosystems, especially if they are built in unfavorable locations. Studies show harmful effects on marine mammals, birds, fish and the ocean floor. In Europe, where wind power investments hit $29.4 billion last year, a regulatory framework must be created for the expansion of offshore wind energy within the ecological limits and taking into account zero-use zones. The European Union urgently needs to take coherent measures for healthy and resilient seas.

New strategy of the European Commission The EU Commission plans to present a strategy for the expansion of renewable energies at sea on November 18, 2020.

The strategy will address the opportunities and challenges associated with the expansion of renewable energies at sea, such as effects on energy networks and markets, management of the maritime space, the technological transfer of research projects, regional and international cooperation and industrial policy dimensions, as well as political headwinds in some countries that can affect project pipelines. NABU welcomes the strategy, but worries about insufficient consideration of marine protection, ecological load-bearing capacity and the marine spatial planning that regulates interests in the use of the sea. All EU member states have to submit their marine spatial planning plans by March 2021.

Conclusions of the European Council Shortly before the end of 2020, the European Council plans to adopt conclusions for cooperation among European member states on the subject of offshore wind energy and other renewable energy sources at sea. It is important that the planning and development of offshore wind energy is coordinated across national borders, including alignment with the UK's offshore wind growth, also to protect marine ecosystems.

However, the ecosystem approach must not be left out. It must be ensured that the Council conclusions focus on the implementation of EU marine and nature conservation directives for the expansion of offshore wind energy within the load limits. EU-wide monitoring systems can help protect marine species and ecosystems. Germany holds the EU Council Presidency and the North Sea Energy Cooperation Presidency for 2020 and can make a decisive contribution.

NABU demands on offshore wind energy in Europe Expansion targets for offshore wind energy across Europe should be based on the ecological load limits of the seas. Development of concrete concepts for the ecological upgrading of areas in marine spatial planning and operationalization of the ecosystem-based approach.

For the nature-friendly expansion of offshore – Wind energy systems must take into account avoidance distances from seabirds to turbines, habitat loss, collision risks and cumulative effects. Implementation / obligation to sensitivity analyzes – they allow targeted conclusions about the best possible locations for offshore wind energy without conflicts with marine protection.

Targeted keeping of areas free for species and their Habitats of anthropogenic use – this increases planning security and can lower investment thresholds for EU funding programs. Ensuring regional cooperation between the European member states for nature Protection and with the involvement of nature conservation authorities – after all, the marine ecosystem does not stop at borders.

Adjustment of priorities: If offshore wind energy is prioritized over other renewable energy sources across Europe, other industrial forms of use of the seas must be given a lower priority.

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CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate empowers British Columbia condos, apartments, and workplaces with Level 2 charging infrastructure, ZEV adoption support, and stackable rebates aligned with the CleanBC Roadmap 2030 and municipal top-up incentives.

Key Points

A provincial program funding up to 50% of EV charger costs for condos, apartments, and workplaces across B.C.

✅ Up to 50% back, max $2,000 per eligible Level 2 charger

✅ EV Ready plans fund building upgrades for future charging

✅ Free advisor support: up to 5 hours for condos and workplaces

British Columbians wanting to charge their electric vehicles (EVs) at their condominium building or their place of work can access further funding through EV charger rebates to help buy and install EV chargers through CleanBC’s Go Electric EV Charger Rebate program.

“To better support British Columbians living in condominiums and apartments, we’re offering rebates to make more buildings EV ready,” said Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation. “With the highest uptake rates of EV adoption in North America, we want to make sure that more people supporting our transition to a low-carbon economy have easy access to charging infrastructure.”

The Province’s CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate program is receiving $10 million as part of Budget 2021 to help with the upfront costs that come with EVs. Condominiums, apartments and workplaces that purchase and install eligible EV chargers can receive a rebate up to 50% of costs to a maximum of $2,000 per charger. Customers who take advantage of the EV Charger Rebate may have access to top up rebates through participating municipalities and local governments.

“People in British Columbia are switching to electric vehicles in record numbers as part of the transition to a cleaner, better transportation system,” said George Heyman, Minister of Environment and Climate Change Strategy. “We are building on that progress and accelerating positive change through the CleanBC Roadmap. We’re making it more affordable to own an electric vehicle and charging station, with incentives for zero-emission vehicles, so people can improve their driving experience with no air and climate pollution, and lower fuel and maintenance costs overall.”

The strata council for a condo building in Vancouver’s Olympic Village neighbourhood made use of the EV Ready program, as well as new legislation easing strata EV installs and federal support to upgrade their building’s electrical infrastructure. The strata council worked together to first determine, through a load review, if there was enough incoming power to support a level 2 charger for every owner. Once this was determined, the strata’s chosen electrical contractor went to work with the base installation, as well as individual chargers for owners who ordered them. The strata council also ensured a charger was installed in the guest parking.

“The majority of owners in our building came together and gave our strata council approval to make the necessary updates to the building’s infrastructure to support electric vehicle charging where we live,” said Jim Bayles, vice-president of strata council. “While upgrading the electrical and installing the EV chargers was something we were going ahead with anyway, we were pleased to receive quick support from the Province through their CleanBC program as well as from the federal government.”

CleanBC’s EV Ready option supports the adoption of EV infrastructure at apartment and condominium buildings. EV Ready provides rebates for the development of EV Ready plans, a strategy for buildings supported by professionals to retrofit a condo with chargers and make at least one parking space per unit EV ready, and the installation of electrical modifications and upgrades needed to support widespread future access to EV charging for residents.

Up to five hours of free support services from an EV charging station adviser are available through the EV Charger Rebate program for condominiums, apartments and workplaces that need help moving from idea to installation.

Single-family homes, including duplexes and townhouses, can get a rebate of up to 50% of purchase and installation costs of an eligible EV charger to a maximum of $350 through the EV Charger Rebate program.

The Province is providing a range of rebates through its CleanBC Go Electric programs and building out the fast-charging network to ensure the increasing demand for EVs is supported. B.C. has one of the largest public-charging networks in Canada, including the BC's Electric Highway initiative, with more than 2,500 public charging stations throughout the province.

The CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate program aligns with the recently released CleanBC Roadmap to 2030. Announced on Oct. 25, 2021, the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 details a range of expanded actions to expand EV charging and accelerate the transition to a net-zero future and achieve B.C.’s legislated greenhouse gas emissions targets.

CleanBC is a pathway to a more prosperous, balanced and sustainable future. It supports government’s commitment to climate action to meet B.C.’s emission targets and build a cleaner, stronger economy for everyone.

Quick Facts:

• The CleanBC Go Electric EV Charger Rebate program provides a convenient single point of service for provincial and any local government rebates.
• EV adviser services for multi-unit residential buildings and workplaces are available through Plug In BC.
• British Columbia is leading the country in transitioning to EVs, even as a B.C. Hydro 'bottleneck' forecast highlights infrastructure needs, with more than 60,000 light-duty EVs on the road.
• British Columbia was the first place in the world to have a 100% ZEV law and is leading North America in uptake rates of EVs at nearly 10% of new sales in 2020 – five years ahead of the original target.
• The CleanBC Roadmap to 2030 commits B.C. to adjusting its ZEV Act to require automakers to meet an escalating annual percentage of new light-duty ZEV sales and leases, reaching 26% of light-duty vehicle sales by 2026, 90% by 2030 and 100% by 2035.

Learn More:

To learn more about home and workplace EV charging station rebates, eligibility and application processes, including the EV Ready program, visit: https://goelectricbc.gov.bc.ca/

To learn more about EV advisor services, visit: https://pluginbc.ca/ev-advisor-service/

To learn more about the suite of CleanBC Go Electric programming, visit: www.gov.bc.ca/zeroemissionvehicles

To learn more about the CleanBC Roadmap to 2030, visit: https://cleanbc.gov.bc.ca/

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Grid-eMotion Fleet Smart Charging enables BVG Berlin to electrify bus depots with compact grid-to-plug DC infrastructure, smart charging software, and high reliability, accelerating zero-emission electric buses, lower noise, and space-efficient e-mobility.

Key Points

Grid-to-plug DC charging for bus depots, with smart software to reliably power zero-emission electric bus fleets.

✅ Up to 60% less space and 40% less cabling than alternatives

✅ DC charging with smart scheduling for depot operations

✅ Scalable, grid-code compliant, low-noise, high reliability

Grid-eMotion Fleet smart charging solution to help the City of Berlin reach its goal of a zero-emission bus fleet by 2030

Dubai, UAE: Hitachi Energy has won an order from Berliner Verkehrsbe-triebe (BVG), Germany’s biggest municipal public transportation company, to supply its Grid-eMotionTM Fleet smart charging infrastructure to help BVG transition to sustainable mobility in Berlin, the country’s capital, where an electric flying ferry initiative underscores the city’s e-mobility momentum.

Hitachi Energy will provide a complete Grid-eMotion Fleet grid-to-plug charging infrastructure solution for the next two bus depots to be converted in the bus electrification program. Hitachi Energy’s solution offers the smallest footprint for both the connection, as well as low noise emissions and high reliability that support grid stability across operations – three key requirements for bus depots in a densely populated urban environment, where space is limited and flawless charging is vital to ensure buses run on time.

The solution comprises a connection to the distribution grid, where effective grid coordination streamlines integration, power distribution and DC charging infrastructure with charging points and smart charging systems. Hitachi Energy will perform the engineering and integrate, install and service the entire solution. The solution has a compact and robust design that requires less equipment than competing infrastructure, which results in a small footprint, lower operating and maintenance costs, and higher reliability. Typically, Grid-eMotion Fleet requires 60 percent less space and 40 percent less cabling than alternative charging systems; it also provides superior overall system reliability.

“We are delighted to help the City of Berlin in its transition to quiet and emission-free transportation and a sustainable energy future for the people of this iconic capital,” said Niklas Persson, Managing Director of Hitachi Energy’s Grid Integration business. “We feel the urgency and have the pioneering technology and commitment to advance sustainable mobility, thus improving the quality of life of millions of people.”

BVG operates Germany’s biggest city bus fleet of around 1,500 vehicles, which it aims to make completely electric and emission-free by 2030, and could benefit from vehicle-to-grid pilots to enhance flexibility. This requires the installation of charging infra-structure in its large network of bus depots.

About Grid-eMotion:

Grid-eMotion comprises two unique, innovative solutions – Fleet and Flash. Grid-eMotion Fleet is a grid-code compliant and space-saving grid-to-plug charging solution that can be in-stalled in new and existing bus depots. The charging solution can be scaled flexibly as the fleet gets bigger and greener. It includes a robust and compact grid connection and charging points, and is also available for commercial vehicle fleets, including last-mile delivery and heavy-duty trucks, as electric truck fleets scale up, requiring high power charging of several megawatts. Grid-eMotionTM Flash enables operators to flash-charge buses within seconds at passenger stops and fully recharge within minutes at the route terminus, without interrupting the bus schedule.

Both solutions are equipped with configurable smart charging digital platforms that can be em-bedded with larger fleet and energy management systems, enabling vehicle-to-grid capabilities for bidirectional charging. Additional offerings from Hitachi Energy for EV charging systems consist of e-meshTM energy management and optimization solutions and Lumada APM, EAM and FSM solutions, to help transportation operators make informed decisions that maximize their uptime and improve efficiency.

In the past few months alone, Hitachi Energy has won orders from customers and partners all over the world for its smart charging portfolio – a sign that Grid-eMotion is changing the e-mobility landscape for electric buses and commercial vehicles, as advances in energy storage and mobile charging bolster resilience. Grid-eMotion solutions are al-ready operating or under development in Australia, Canada, China, India, the Middle East, the United States and several countries in Europe.

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Global Renewable Capacity Additions 2023 surge on policy momentum, high fossil prices, and energy security, with solar PV and wind leading growth as grids expand and manufacturing scales across China, Europe, India, and the US.

Key Points

Record solar PV and wind growth from policy and energy security, adding 440+ GW toward 4,500 GW total capacity in 2024.

✅ Solar PV to supply two-thirds of additions; rooftop demand rising.

✅ Wind rebounds ~70% as delayed projects complete in China, EU, US.

✅ Grid upgrades and better permitting, auctions key for 2024 growth.

Global additions of renewable power capacity are expected to jump by a third this year as growing policy momentum, higher fossil fuel prices and energy security concerns drive strong deployment of solar PV and wind power, building on a record year for renewables in 2016, according to the latest update from the International Energy Agency.

The growth is set to continue next year with the world’s total renewable electricity capacity rising to 4 500 gigawatts (GW), equal to the total power output of China and the United States combined, and in the United States wind power has surged in the electricity mix, says the IEA’s new Renewable Energy Market Update, which was published today.

Global renewable capacity additions are set to soar by 107 gigawatts (GW), the largest absolute increase ever, to more than 440 GW in 2023. The dynamic expansion is taking place across the world’s major markets. Renewables are at the forefront of Europe’s response to the energy crisis, accelerating their growth there. New policy measures are also helping drive significant increases in the United States, where solar and wind growth remains strong, and India over the next two years. China, meanwhile, is consolidating its leading position and is set to account for almost 55% of global additions of renewable power capacity in both 2023 and 2024.

“Solar and wind are leading the rapid expansion of the new global energy economy. This year, the world is set to add a record-breaking amount of renewables to electricity systems – more than the total power capacity of Germany and Spain combined,” said IEA Executive Director Fatih Birol. “The global energy crisis has shown renewables are critical for making energy supplies not just cleaner but also more secure and affordable – and governments are responding with efforts to deploy them faster. But achieving stronger growth means addressing some key challenges. Policies need to adapt to changing market conditions, and we need to upgrade and expand power grids to ensure we can take full advantage of solar and wind’s huge potential.”

Solar PV additions will account for two-thirds of this year’s increase in renewable power capacity and are expected to keep growing in 2024, according to the new report. The expansion of large-scale solar PV plants is being accompanied by the growth of smaller systems. Higher electricity prices are stimulating faster growth of rooftop solar PV, which is empowering consumers to slash their energy bills, and in the United States renewables' share is projected to approach one-fourth of electricity generation.

At the same time, manufacturing capacity for all solar PV production segments is expected to more than double to 1 000 GW by 2024, led by China's solar PV growth and increasing supply diversification in the United States, where wind, solar and battery projects dominate the 2023 pipeline, India and Europe. Based on those trends, the world will have enough solar PV manufacturing capacity in 2030 to comfortably meet the level of annual demand envisaged in the IEA’s Net Zero Emissions by 2050 Scenario.

Wind power additions are forecast to rebound sharply in 2023 growing by almost 70% year-on-year after a difficult couple of years in which growth was slugging, even as wind power still grew despite Covid-19 challenges. The faster growth is mainly due to the completion of projects that had been delayed by Covid-19 restrictions in China and by supply chain issues in Europe and the United States. However, further growth in 2024 will depend on whether governments can provide greater policy support to address challenges in terms of permitting and auction design. In contrast to solar PV, wind turbine supply chains are not growing fast enough to match accelerating demand over the medium-term. This is mainly due to rising commodity prices and supply chain challenges, which are reducing the profitability of manufacturers.

The forecast for renewable capacity additions in Europe has been revised upwards by 40% from before Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which led many countries to boost solar and wind uptake to reduce their reliance on Russian natural gas. The growth is driven by high electricity prices that have made small-scale rooftop solar PV systems more financially attractive and by increased policy support in key European markets, especially in Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.

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Ford Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex will anchor EV production in Ontario, adding a battery plant, retooling lines, and assembly capacity for passenger models targeting the North American market and Canada's zero-emission mandates.

Key Points

A retooled Ontario hub for passenger EV production, featuring on-site battery assembly and modernized lines.

✅ Retooling begins Q2 2024; EV production slated for 2025.

✅ New 407,000 sq ft battery plant for pack assembly.

✅ First full-line passenger EV production in Canada.

Ford Motor Co. has revealed some details of its plan to spend $1.8 billion on its Oakville Assembly Complex to turn it into an electric vehicle production hub, a government-backed Oakville EV deal, in the latest commitment by an automaker transitioning towards an electric future.

The automaker said Tuesday that it will start retooling the Ontario complex in the second quarter of 2024, bolstering Ontario's EV jobs boom, and begin producing electric vehicles in 2025.

The transformation of the Oakville site, to be renamed the Oakville Electric Vehicle Complex, will include a new 407,000 square-foot battery plant, similar to Honda's Ontario battery investment efforts, where parts produced at Ford's U.S. operations will be assembled into battery packs.

General Motors is already producing electric delivery vans in Canada, and its Ontario EV plant plans continue to expand, but Ford says this is the first time a full-line automaker has announced plans to produce passenger EVs in Canada for the North American market.

GM said in February it plans to build motors for electric vehicles at its St. Catharines, Ont. propulsion plant, aligning with the Niagara Region battery investment now underway. The motors will go into its BrightDrop electric delivery vans, which it produces in part at its Ingersoll, Ont. plant, as well as its electric pickup trucks, producing enough at the plant for 400,000 vehicles a year.

Ford's announcement is the latest commitment by an automaker transitioning towards an electric future, part of Canada's EV assembly push that is accelerating.

"Canada and the Oakville complex will play a vital role in our Ford Plus transformation," said chief executive Jim Farley in a statement.

The company has committed to invest over US$50 billion in electric vehicles globally and has a target of producing two million EVs a year by the end of 2026 as part of its Ford Plus growth plan, reflecting an EV market inflection point worldwide.

Ford didn't specify in the release which models it planned to build at the Oakville complex, which currently produces the Ford Edge and Lincoln Nautilus.

The company's spending plans were first announced in 2020 as part of union negotiations, with workers seeking long-term production commitments and the Detroit Three automakers eventually agreeing to invest in Canadian operations in concert with spending agreements with the Ontario and federal governments.

The two governments agreed to provide $295 million each in funding to secure the Ford investment.

"The partnership between Ford and Canada helps to position us as a global leader in the EV supply chain for decades to come," said Industry Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne in Ford's news release.

Funding help comes as the federal government moves to require that at least 20 percent of new vehicles sold in Canada will be zero-emission by 2026, at least 60 per cent by 2030, and 100 per cent by 2035.

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USPS Electric Mail Trucks promise zero-emission delivery, lower lifecycle and maintenance costs, and cleaner air. Congressional funding in Build Back Better would modernize the EV fleet and expand charging infrastructure, improving public health nationwide.

Key Points

USPS Electric Mail Trucks are zero-emission delivery vehicles that cut costs, reduce pollution, and improve health.

✅ Lower lifetime fuel and maintenance costs vs gas trucks

✅ Cuts greenhouse gas and NOx emissions in communities

✅ Expands charging infrastructure via federal investments

The U.S. Postal Service faces serious challenges, with billions of dollars in annual losses and total mail volume continuing to decline. Meanwhile, Congress is constantly hamstringing the agency.

But now lawmakers have an opportunity to invest in the Postal Service in a way that would pay dividends for years to come: By electrifying the postal fleet.

Tucked inside the massive social spending and climate package lumbering through the Senate is money for new, cleaner postal delivery trucks. There’s a lot to like about electric postal trucks. They’d significantly improve Americans’ health while also slowing climate change. And it just makes sense for taxpayers over the long term; the Postal Service’s private sector competitors have already made similar investments, as EV adoption reaches an EV inflection point in the market. As Democrats weigh potential areas to cut in President Joe Biden’s Build Back Better plan, this is one provision that should escape the knife.

To call the U.S. Postal Service’s current vehicles “clunkers” would be an understatement. These often decades-old trucks are famous for having no airbags, no air conditioning and a nasty habit of catching fire. So the Postal Service’s recent decision to buy 165,000 replacement trucks is basically a no-brainer. But the main question is whether they will run on electricity or gasoline.

Electric vehicles are newer to the market and still carry a higher sticker price, as seen with electric bus adoption in many cities. But that higher price buys concrete benefits, like lower lifetime fuel and maintenance costs and huge reductions in pollution. Government demand for electric trucks will also push private markets to create better, cheaper vehicles, directly benefiting consumers. So while buying electric postal trucks may be somewhat more costly at first, over the long term, failing to do so could be far costlier.

At some level, this is a straightforward business decision that the Postal Service’s competitors have already made. For instance, Amazon has already deployed some of the 100,000 electric vans it recently ordered, and FedEx has promised a fully electric ground fleet by 2040, while nonprofit investment in electric trucks is accelerating electrification at major ports. In a couple of decades, the Postal Service could be the only carrier still driving dirty gas guzzlers, buying expensive fuel and paying the higher maintenance costs that combustion engines routinely require. Consumers could flock to greener competitors.

Beyond these business advantages, zero-emission vehicles carry other big benefits for the public. The Postal Service recently calculated some of these benefits by estimating the climate harms that going all-electric would avoid, benefits that persist even where electricity generation still includes fossil-generated electricity in nearby grids. Its findings were telling: A fully electric fleet would prevent millions or tens of millions of dollars’ worth of climate-change-related harms to property and human health each year of the trucks’ lifetimes (and this is probably a considerable underestimate). The world leaders that recently gathered at the global climate summit in Glasgow encouraged exactly this type of transition toward low-carbon technologies.

A cleaner postal fleet would benefit Americans in many other important ways. In addition to warming the planet, tailpipe pollutants can have dire health consequences for the people who breathe in the fumes. Mail trucks traverse virtually every neighborhood in the country and often must idle in residential areas, so we all benefit when they stop emitting. And these localized harms are not distributed equally. Some parts of the country — too often, low-income communities of color — already have poor air quality. Removing pollution from dirty mail trucks will especially help these overburdened and underserved populations.

The government’s purchasing power also routinely inspires companies to devise better and cheaper ways to do business. Investments in aerospace technologies, for instance, have spilled over into consumer innovations, giving us GPS technologies and faster, more fuel-efficient passenger jets. Bulk demand for cleaner trucks could inspire similar innovations as companies clamor for government contracts, meaning we all could get cheaper and better green products like car batteries, and the American EV boom could further accelerate those gains.

Additionally, because postal trucks are virtually everywhere in the country, if they go electric, that would mean more charging stations and grid updates everywhere too, and better utility planning for truck fleets to ensure reliable service. Suddenly, that long road trip that discourages many would-be electric car buyers may be simpler, which could boost electric vehicle adoption.

White House climate adviser Gina McCarthy talks with EVgo CEO Cathy Zoi before the start of an event near an EVgo electric car charging station.
ENERGY

The case for electrifying the postal fleet is strong from both a business and a social standpoint. Indeed, even Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, who was appointed during the Trump administration, supports it. But getting there is not so simple. Most private businesses could just borrow the money they need for this investment and pay it back with the long-term savings they would enjoy. But not the Postal Service. Thanks to its byzantine funding structure, it cannot afford electric trucks’ upfront costs unless Congress either provides the money or lets it borrow more. This is the primary reason it has not committed to making more than 10 percent of its fleet electric.

And that returns us to the Build Back Better legislation. The version passed by the House sets aside $7 billion to help the Postal Service buy electric mail trucks — enough to electrify the vast majority of its fleet by the end of the decade.

Biden has made expanding the use of electric vehicles a top priority, setting an ambitious goal of 100 percent zero-emission federal vehicle acquisitions by 2035, and new EPA emission limits aim to accelerate EV adoption. But Sen. Joe Manchin has expressed resistance to some of the climate-related subsidies in the legislation and is also eager to keep costs down. This provision, however, is worthy of the West Virginia Democrat’s support.

Most Americans would see — and benefit from — these trucks on a daily basis. And for an operation that got its start under Benjamin Franklin, it’s a crucial way to keep the Postal Service relevant.

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