Sue Lani Madsen: Seeing a few wrinkles in plans to electrify transportation

Rural Washington is starting to see the impact of the all-electric transportation future envisioned by the Inslee administration. An electric vehicle charging station sprouted last year in Reardan right along U.S. Highway 2. No one in town seemed to know where it came from, or has ever spotted a car charging there. The property owner lives in Spokane Valley and the charger is located in front of a vacant commercial building with a for sale sign out front. It was a mystery.

Turns out it’s part of Avista’s program to expand electric vehicle charging stations in rural areas by finding willing property owners to partner with, either public or private. At the charging station in Reardan, Avista pays for the installation and maintenance, the property owner pays for the electricity. The Level 2 station can provide about 25 miles of range for every hour a car is connected.

That’s about enough to get you to the next town, and there’s not much for you to do while you’re waiting. It’s a few blocks walk to the local drive-in and pub, assuming they’re open.

The goal of the program is to free the increasing number of EV drivers from confinement to urban driving, recognizing the state’s 2030 deadline for most new vehicles registered in to be electric.

It will require a major change in energy infrastructure. Most of the policy conversation has centered around EVs in an urban or a suburban commuter setting, and that is certainly the majority of drivers. According to Rendall Farley, Avista’s manager of transportation electrification, most people drive no more than 40 miles per day.

Avista is also assisting school districts by studying the feasibility of electric buses on long rural routes. Mike McCain, transportation director for the sprawling Reardan-Edwall School District spanning two counties, gave Avista five routes to evaluate. “The report came back saying we could use electric buses,” said McCain. He’s working with Avista and bus manufacturers on grants for charging station infrastructure and bus purchases.

On the other hand, McCain said they’d still need diesel buses until battery technology makes a major change in range. “I wouldn’t send an electric bus on a sports trip, we travel to the four corners of Washington.” And on at least a few of the daily routes, buses may be traveling twice as many miles. Currently several school buses are parked at the home of the drivers after dropping off the last students to avoid a “deadheading” run back to the bus facility in Reardan and eliminate a very early morning commute for the driver.

It’s the questions “on the other hand” that need digging into, the source of unintended consequences in any policy shift. Rural areas are still coping with the loss of liquid fueling options following an aggressive schedule from the Department of Ecology two decades ago to replace underground storage tanks. For many rural gas stations with a low volume of business, replacing tanks didn’t pencil out. Coping has included everything from new above ground tanks to old 5-gallon jerrycans stashed in a barn.

A few years ago, a Washington State trooper new to the east side of the state responded to an accident on Hwy 231 in Edwall from somewhere near Moses Lake, about a 90 mile drive. After dealing with the incident, she approached the firefighter flagging traffic and asked directions to the closest gas station. She assumed because the town had a name it must have a gas station. She was needed back on Interstate 90 and the fuel gauge was on empty.

Edwall is one of those small places that lost its gas station. The trooper was faced with 17 miles back to I-90 and the single gas station in Sprague. She didn’t think she’d make it. Fortunately it was less than a quarter mile to the fire station with its above ground tank and she got a first responder courtesy fill up with enough to get her on her way. Imagine if the trooper had to park and wait to recharge before being able to respond to the next call.

Emergency vehicles will need liquid fuels for the foreseeable future. So will long haul trucks, railroads, and farm equipment. Hikers heading to remote trailheads or day trippers to mountain ski resorts both face reduced range due to weather, wind and mountainous terrain.

And then there’s the capacity question, or as one friend put it, “My old farmhouse doesn’t even have enough outlets for kitchen appliances.” We’re asking every part of the electrical grid from high power transmission to last mile distribution lines to handle an increasing load, with state mandates for electric vehicles layered on top of state mandates for electric heat pumps. There’s a danger in building all of our energy future on a system susceptible to interruption by deliberate attack, as we saw in Pierce County on Christmas Day, and to simply stormy weather. That all electric future has more than a few questions needing answers across all of Washington.

Contact Sue Lani Madsen at rulingpen@gmail.com.