The Biden administration’s EV invasion by 2035 could hit a roadblock with America’s already stressed power grid, experts have warned.
That is because America’s electrical network has not been updated in over 25 years, and is in need for more transmission lines to power millions of new green energy-powered vehicles – all of which could cost more than $2.5 trillion.
The demand for power will account for about one-third of electricity growth within the next decade as Princeton University projected the nation will use up 3,360 percent more electricity to meet the presidents goal.
‘In our projections, EVs cause electricity demand in the transportation sector to grow between five-fold and 10-fold by 2035,’ an EIA spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
EV demand will account for about one-third of electricity growth within the next decade but the grid currently doesn’t have the infrastructure to handle the increase
There were roughly 2.4 million registered EVs in the US at the end of last year, which isn’t enough to overwhelm the electrical grid yet but could cause major problems in the future if the infrastructure isn’t updated, experts warn.
The International Energy Agency’s Global EV Outlook predicted that EV sales could reach 17 million in 2024 and projects that electric vehicles will likely account for half of all cars sold by 2035.
IEEE Spectrum, a publication of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, published a report on EV transition, published a study in 2023 that found that 8,000 power-generation units and 600,000 circuit miles of AC transmission lines will need to be replaced or improved by 2035.
In addition to 70,000 substations to support increased renewable energy and battery storage – brining the cost to more than $2.5 trillion.
The average American drives their car about 13,500 miles per year, meaning the standard EV will typically require about 3,857 kWhs of electricity annually, according to the US Department of Transportation (DoT).
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of energy that measures how much electricity is uses and is equivalent to a 100-watt light bulb used for 10 hours straight.
The demand for electricity in the transportation sector would likely increase from about 21 kWhs last year to between 123 billion and 211 billion kWhs in the next 11 years, according to the US Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
‘Right now, our infrastructure is likely ‘Ok’ for the slow trickle of EV adoption,’ Robby DeGraff, the manager of Product and Consumer Insights at AutoPacific told DailyMail.com.
But the drastic increase in electricity use means ‘the grid will certainly need to be revamped,’ he added.
Electricity demand in states like Georgia has surged to record highs, ranking it among the top 10 states for total energy consumption.
In 2022, Georgia Power projected the state would see an energy demand growth of 400 megawatts for all electrical needs between 2023 and 2030, but it revised its estimates for the next seven years, stating it will see a growth of 6,600 megawatts – 17 times more than its previous forecast.
The Arizona Public Service has also projected it will max out its transmission capacity before the end of the decade.
A 2023 study by the California Public Utilities Commission revealed that the state will need to spend $50 billion by 2035 in electric grid updates to meet its EV targets.
Last year, the total electricity demand in the US was 3,800 billion kWh but that number is expected to grow to between 4,200 and 4,300 by 2035, with EVs accounting for about one-third of the total growth, the EIA reported.
Some estimates have suggested that the grid will need an additional 15 billion to 27 billion kWh to power EVs by 2050, Albert Gore, the executive director of the marketing technology company ZETA told Government Technology.
Albert is the son of the former vice president Al Gore, whose longtime work in climate change activism earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
The EIA spokesperson said the agency doesn’t see any current problems with expanding the grid to meet the upcoming electricity needs but did acknowledge that it doesn’t have the tools to create a model for how many improvements will be needed for localized distribution grids.
‘I think the bigger and more pressing concern is all of the US’s existing outdated grid infrastructure in many corners of the country that currently cannot even handle a summer surge in heat, inclement weather, or a cold snap,’ DeGraff warned.
‘That’s the more critical issue. Look at what happened in Texas.’
The rapidly rising electricity demand in Texas resulted in 4.5 million customers losing electricity for several days during an intense cold snap in 2021.
The blackout has become known as the worst in Texas’ history and resulted in the deaths of 246 people spread across 77 counties – 65 percent of which were related to extreme-cold exposure including hypothermia.
The Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) said it is taking steps to update the infrastructure and claimed it will be equipped to deal with the growing number of people investing in EVs
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told DailyMail.com that the rise in EVs won’t impact the electric grid, claiming it will only ‘increase generation from the electric power sector by approximately one percent in 2030, nine percent in 2040, and 12 percent in 2050.’
The agency added that the electrical grid has sustained all updated technology, such as using more residential and commercial air conditioning in the 1970s through the 1990s, saying that it shows ‘our energy system is up to the task of meeting additional demand.’
The Federal Energy Regulation Commission (FERC) said it is taking steps to update the infrastructure and claimed it will be equipped to deal with the growing number of people investing in EVs.
The spokesperson added that it includes directing applicants to ‘develop engagement plans for outreach to environmental justice communities and Tribes’ who would be impacted by the construction, operation and infrastructure maintenance.
The engagement plans would also allow them to ‘engage with landowners’ when requesting a permit to build a transmission line on their property.
But obtaining permits to build generation, transmission and storage projects and then connecting them to the grid isn’t a quick and straightforward process.
According to FERC, there was a queue of more than 2,000 projects waiting to be connected with an average wait time of about five years.
‘While EVs will likely never 100 percent replace all gas vehicles on the road anytime soon, the market share is growing year after year, as is demand,’ DeGraff said.
‘So it’d be wise to begin the necessary preparations to safeguard the grid now.’
