To Shift EV Charging Habits, Minnesota Co-ops Turn to Technology, Incentives
While electric vehicles have the potential to help manage demand on the grid, a recent pilot study in Minnesota finds that’s not likely to happen on its own.
The Wright-Hennepin Cooperative Electric Association in the western suburbs of Minneapolis told 12 electric vehicle owners to drive and charge as they typically would without regard to its overnight charging incentive program. The utility wanted to see how drivers operate without market signals.
What it found was that without those incentives, electric vehicle drivers tend to charge when they return from work, further straining the grid at peak demand times.
“Consumers are charging when they get home from work out of habit and caution,” said Tim Sullivan, the cooperative’s president and CEO.
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