Funding Transportation Electrification in California

Overview

Electricity in California is twice as expensive as other western and mountain states in the United States. Electricity rates of California’s largest investor-owned utilities have also been rising at least twice as fast as inflation. Utility costs are a higher percentage of expenditures for lower-income households. As such, rising rates puts disproportional financial pressure on low-income households.

Transportation sector tailpipe emissions account for over 40% of California’s GHG emissions. This percentage increases to 50% considering lifecycle impacts such as oil refining and vehicle manufacturing. Therefore, reducing transportation emissions by electrification is paramount to achieving the state’s GHG reduction goals.

To be on track to meet California’s emission targets, CARB anticipates that the transportation sector will need to reduce annual emissions from 156 MMT in 2021 by roughly half, to 86 MMT in 2030. This transition will likely require significant investment in transportation electrification.

This paper provides our general positions on electric vehicle infrastructure investments.

Download: Transportation Funding Transportation Electrification in California