The Key to Cleaner Holidays: Flexible Service Connections

How to charge more trucks and deliver more gifts — without adding strain to the grid.

The holiday shopping season is upon us. Across the United States, people are racing to secure gifts for their loved ones (and perhaps finding a few items for themselves). For deliveries Santa won’t be making himself, the trucking industry is stepping in to help. 

The National Retail Federation predicts holiday spending will reach $1 trillion this year. That’s a lot of gifts. Freight will deliver 75 percent of those goods, playing a vital role in keeping our holiday traditions alive and supporting the US economy.  

But all those deliveries come with a cost. Among other pollutants, heavy-duty diesel trucks emit nitrogen oxides, ground-level ozone, and particulate matter, which have negative impacts on public health and air quality, especially in areas where freight traffic is high.  

Some states are offering substantial incentives for the freight industry to electrify, supporting electric freight adoption trends that could lead to cleaner air. As electric trucks are becoming increasingly economically competitive with diesel, their adoption levels could continue to rise, reducing the amount of emissions that come with our holiday shopping. Unfortunately, one challenge still stands in the way. 

Charging up electric trucks 

As more trucks electrify, they need a place to charge. Charging stations can be built very quickly, but getting them connected to the grid is another matter. That’s because truck fleets require a significant amount of power, and plugging them in to charge could push an already strained grid past its capacity limit. In many cases, fleet operators wanting power are experiencing long delays as utilities explore costly upgrades to increase the grid’s capacity. 

Fortunately, unlike other energy-hungry loads, electric trucks don’t need to be plugged in 24/7 in order to get us the goods we need. In fact, they can charge at times when the grid is underutilized, avoiding those periods when energy demand is at its very peak. 

Some utilities are already working with electric truck fleets to take advantage of their flexibility, using a solution called flexible service connections.  

Flexible service connections are a grid-friendly approach to freight charging, backed by a formal agreement with utilities. Under this agreement, fleets reduce their charging at pre-identified periods when energy demand is expected to be at its highest. This method not only leads to more trucks getting charged, but more cost savings for everyone. 

Flexible service connections in action 

RMI recently analyzed how flexible service connections would impact fleet charging in California, where they’re already in use. On average, heavy-duty trucks that travel less than 300 miles per day are parked at their depot between 4 p.m. and 5 a.m. — which happens to coincide with times when energy demand is highest in California. However, electric trucks need only half of that time to sufficiently charge, and even less in cases where the charging site has faster chargers.  

In other words, the average California fleet could avoid charging at times when grid demand is already high with little impact on their operations. Since this also means lower electricity costs for the fleet, it’s a win-win scenario. 

In most cases RMI analyzed, new charging sites for heavy-duty trucks would only need to adjust charging times by two hours for one month out of the year (July) to avoid high demand periods.  After that month of slightly shifted charging schedules, fleets could charge normally for the rest of the year — including the chillier holiday season, when power demand isn’t as high. 

With 130,000 trucks of all weight classes and powertrains currently sold across California per year, flexible service connections can significantly reduce the grid impacts of these new vehicles. That reduced impact on the grid could have ripple effects. By allowing utilities to make more efficient use of existing infrastructure, flexible service connections reduce the need for grid upgrades, leading to cost savings for utilities and ratepayers. 

So far, flexible service connections are little-known and underutilized. California is home to one of the few utilities currently using this solution: PG&E’s Flex Connect program. SCE and National Grid currently have flexible service connection pilot programs. Scaling this solution would mean reduced stress on the grid, more electric trucks on the road, and better air quality for all. 

What’s next? 

Electric trucks are creating a cleaner freight industry, and ensuring they can get charged will be essential to expanding their impact. Solutions like flexible service connections can be employed now to get electric trucks the power they need while also avoiding undue strain on the grid. 

If flexible service connections can be scaled from coast to coast, electric trucks will be able to deliver both cleaner air and our holiday gifts — all while making better use of the power we already have available.