The Electrify the South Collaborative is an ongoing effort amongst native governments to attract down a proportionate share of federal electrical transportation funding. Native governments within the Southeast which might be enthusiastic about rising their information and peer-to-peer collaboration are inspired to affix the Collaborative.
Dory Larsen | October 26, 2023
| Clear Transportation, Electrical Autos
In September, SACE hosted the inaugural Electrify the South Collaborative, a two-day assembly of Southeastern native governments, in Savannah, Georgia. The occasion was co-hosted by the Southeast Sustainability Administrators Community (SSDN), with funding from a beneficiant Motion Infrastructure Grant from Mosaic.
The Collaborative offered individuals a chance to debate the obstacles native governments face pursuing and implementing federal electrical transportation {dollars} from each the Bipartisan Infrastructure Regulation (BIL) and Inflation Discount Act (IRA), and find out how to overcome them. Every of the occasion’s panels, small-group discussions and reflective workout routines have been designed to tell individuals, stimulate deepening dialog, and invite peer-to-peer collaboration. The 2-day occasion moved the electrical transportation (ET) transition conservation from obstacles to options, highlighting native authorities successes and figuring out enhancements to federal funding necessities that might make accessing and implementing funds extra environment friendly and efficient. Learn extra about how the Collaborative is rising communication and strengthening relationships.
Day 1 of the Collaborative dove proper into the significance of genuine group engagement; then moved on to debate obstacles to implementing federal funds. Day 2 began out with a panel dialogue with state and federal authorities leaders after which a dialogue of pathways towards options and alternatives. Every section of the Collaborative resulted in an inventory of takeaways and finest practices, mirrored beneath.
Group Engagement
BIL and IRA modified the federal funding panorama by introducing Justice 40 ideas that require at the very least 40% of funded tasks’ advantages to stream to communities under-resourced and overburdened by air pollution. Because of this, native governments should modify how they work with their under-resourced and overburdened group members with a purpose to perceive their wants and priorities and guarantee required advantages are delivered.
Thus, Day 1 of the Collaborative dove proper into the significance of genuine group engagement. Individuals have been requested to rank how properly they really feel they interact their communities on transportation and mobility points from one (lowest)-five (highest). The typical rating of two.7 offered baseline information supporting native governments’ want for group engagement. When individuals have been requested to determine their high three challenges in participating their communities on ET, a extra full picture started to emerge on what actions may very well be most useful.
The three highest ranked challenges recognized have been:
- Lack of charging infrastructure
- Notion that EVs are for the wealthy
- Misinformation
Different issues shared targeted on the restricted assets obtainable to municipalities. One participant talked about competing priorities like biking infrastructure. One other supplied that in rural communities, the place there are different mobility wants to handle and a present lack of fascinating EVs and charging infrastructure, specializing in ET can come throughout as tone deaf. Individuals additionally acknowledged the complexities of participating communities on transportation electrification, in addition to the mistrust many under-resourced communities have round transportation choices that stem from historic malfeasance.
Curiously, the dialog didn’t give attention to the best ranked challenges; moderately, the dialogue highlighted the significance of constructing relationships and deliberately deliberate group engagement with particular outcomes recognized. Working with group companions and providing alternatives to know the group’s information, beliefs and wishes have been recognized as cornerstones to efficient group engagement. The significance of offering schooling on how ET can enhance the standard of life for group members – human well being, job creation, and coaching alternatives – was one other theme.
Greatest Practices Recognized:
- Tag onto current conferences not associated to ET
- Determine group movers and shakers
- Be clear with group companions, share information with group companions, clarify to group companions why their enter issues
- Compensate (or useful resource) group members for his or her participation
- Present steady touchpoints with the group on ET subjects
- Provide on-line alternatives for engagement
Artistic Concepts Shared:
- Use digital advertising and marketing to promote occasions (advertisements in video video games)
Limitations: Small Group Challenges, Giant Group Options
After the group engagement dialogue, we requested individuals to rank obstacles to pursuing and implementing federal ET funding. Individuals have been positioned in small, facilitated teams to unpack their solutions. Then, options have been mentioned among the many complete room via a sequence of facilitated conversations to get extra detailed details about what is required to beat these points.
Not surprisingly, price range (approval processes, accessing matching funds), employees capability, and the necessity for extra data (price estimates, infrastructure plan) have been the three highest ranked issues.
Some municipalities are already considering strategically in regards to the EV transition and have set objectives and municipal electrification plans in place. Not surprisingly, native governments implementing these finest practices are already working systematically throughout departments to plan for and price range for ET. Individuals acknowledged that within the absence of objectives or a plan it’s crucial to have intentional communication amongst departments, with stakeholders, and from neighboring municipalities, as a result of it eases employees capability.
Greatest Practices Recognized:
- Partnerships with key stakeholders
- Leasing fleet autos to beat price/availability points
- Planning to cut back VMT
- Prioritizing electrical autos in resilience efforts as property able to appearing as an influence supply throughout an emergency occasion
- EVSE sighted equitably throughout communities
- Automotive share applications with EVSE to encourage group assist
- Educating employees who drive EVs
State and Federal Authorities Panel
Day 2 started with a panel dialogue with state and federal company and legislative leaders, which offered a chance for each panelists and individuals to share insights and reply questions. Having participation from the Federal Division of Transportation and Joint Workplace of Vitality and Transportation employees was vital as a result of it established direct communication and connections between the federal employees tasked with rolling out the funding and native employees who will likely be recipients. Moreover, having a state legislator and state company deputy director take part highlighted the function state management can play in facilitating the stream of those federal {dollars}. Having that conduit of knowledge change between native governments and the federal authorities can enhance federally funded applications and the way they’re carried out.
The query “What wants do you’ve got from the federal or state authorities to be higher ready?” served as a leaping off level.
Individuals have been requested to pick all that utilized. The highest three recognized have been:
- Entry to information and/or maps exhibiting grid capability to help with website choice for EV charging
- Visibility of upcoming funding applications obtainable from the federal authorities/state DOTs in a single place
- Details about native government-accessible tax credit
As data was shared on federal applications and assets, questions started flying across the room. The Joint Workplace of Transportation and Vitality acknowledged that extra assets and readability are wanted for native governments making use of for future discover of funding rounds with the brand new NEVI (hall and group) applications. Federal representatives requested questions of individuals in order that they might take again enter from native employees to enhance how future rounds are rolled out. Individuals mentioned battling many components that weigh into grant purposes: timing, match, and reimbursement based mostly on compliance. In addition they heard inventive options their friends have employed. Moreover, a number of native authorities individuals have been studying that they’ll use “elective pay” for the primary time utilizing new IRS Business Tax Credit for autos and the Different Gas Automobile Refueling Property Credit score, for charging infrastructure.
Greatest Practices Recognized:
- Construct relationships with Congressional workplace employees
- Construct relationships with Council of Governments
- Search Metropolitan Planning Group (MPO) assist. Ex: Greensboro, NC was lead applicant for CFI proposal with 6-7 smaller adjoining cities and served as the first applicant
- Search state stage assist. Ex: Tennessee DOE helped assist rural CFI proposal
- Use in-kind assets for required native 20% match
- Useful resource third-parties for letter of assist and 20% match
Assets:
Takeaways:
- Massive discrepancies exist throughout the area when it comes to state company (DOT and EO) assist by state.
- Two stress factors with timing of federal funding: 1. Proposal must be totally fleshed out which takes time earlier than it may be offered to determination makers. 2. Then, there may be usually a protracted glide path to get a proposal in entrance of the choice making board (60 days). For these causes, undertaking open intervals should be longer than 60 days. 90 days was mentioned because the optimum timeframe.
Pathways to Options: Native Help and Peer to Peer Integration
One other vital side of the Collaborative was creating pathways towards options and alternatives. Intentional time was devoted for native governments to share their successes and ask each other deeper questions on how the options work. After speaking via all these concepts, the ultimate actions of the Collaborative have been designed to show these potentials into actionable subsequent steps. Individuals have been inspired to associate with others who’re engaged on related tasks and proceed collaboration.
One of many concluding questions posed to individuals of the Collaborative was “What’s your most vital takeaway?” It was heartening to listen to relationships between individuals famous in a number of of their replies:
“As a municipality, it was nice to listen to that we aren’t alone in our struggles with transportation electrification. It was clear that almost all of us share extra commonalities than variations on the subject of this matter, and my takeaway is that we are able to discover options if we predict creatively and leverage our networks.”
“New contacts with different municipalities to collaborate and share data with for finest practices.”
“Create Relationships & Have interaction with State Legislators for Up-to-date data.”
There was a way of optimism within the room of potentialities and that was mirrored in a number of feedback that the funding is critical and attainable however time is of the essence.
“That native governments can get federal funding for EVs and charging tools via many extra methods than I noticed.”
“Plenty of once-in-a-generation funding alternatives proper now — we should be proactive in searching for these out.”
Largest Takeaways:
- One participant mirrored, “It’s time for our metropolis to start out considering strategically about EV transition, moderately than piecemealing”.
- There got here to be an understanding that grant writing will be labored on as regional partnerships to assist smaller companies entry extra funding with much less assets expended. One participant commented, “Our alternative to accumulate federal funding is probably going tied to regional collaboration”
- One other commented “I’m able to determine collaborators in my group that may assist develop a regional plan. Our plan will assist us prioritize initiatives for grant funding.”
Greatest Practices Recognized:
- Knoxville shared a mapping software designed by Raleigh, N.C. that was modified to layer in further information factors to judge charging station location standards. This software is public information that may be modified.
- Raleigh is planning municipal office “park and trip” parking/charging hubs positioned at equitable areas round city moderately than finding charging solely at metropolis owned buildings.
- Savannah intervened within the Georgia Energy price case and advocated for a make-ready program efficiently.
- Protocol for sharing data inside metropolis departments about new EVSE installations
- Standardization for EVSE tools and software program necessities (have to be OCPP compliant)
- Financing EVSE via on-bill financing from the utility
Subsequent Steps and Shifting Ahead
The Electrify the South Collaborative in Savannah was an enormous success, and the SACE and SSDN groups are wanting ahead to persevering with the dialog throughout a digital occasion on Thursday, November 30, 2023 from 12-1:30 PM ET. Municipalities that have been unable to attend the in-person occasion in Savannah are inspired to take part in November. Please use this hyperlink to register.
The Southern Alliance for Clear Vitality’s Electrify the South program leverages analysis, advocacy, and outreach to speed up the equitable transition to electrical transportation throughout the Southeast. Go to ElectrifytheSouth.org to study extra and join with us.
