The Biden administration’s push for electric vehicles by 2035 could hit a snag in America’s already stressed power grid, experts warned.
That’s because the U.S. power grid hasn’t been updated in more than 25 years and needs more transmission lines to power millions of new green-energy vehicles that could cost more than $2.5 trillion.
Energy demand will account for about a third of electricity growth over the next decade, as Princeton University projected the nation will use 3,360 percent more electricity to meet the president’s goal.
“Based on our projections, electric vehicles will cause transportation electricity demand to grow five- to ten-fold by 2035,” an EIA spokesperson told DailyMail.com.
Demand for electric vehicles will account for about a third of electricity growth over the next decade, but the grid currently lacks the infrastructure to handle the increase.
At the end of last year there were approximately 2.4 million electric vehicles registered in the United States, which is not enough to overwhelm the power grid yet, but could cause major problems in the future if the infrastructure is not updated, experts warn.
International Energy Agency Global Electric Vehicle Outlook foretold that electric vehicle sales could reach 17 million by 2024 and projects that EVs 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 the transition to electric vehicles, published a study in 2023 that found that 8,000 power generation units and 600,000 circuit miles of AC transmission lines will need be replaced or upgraded by 2035.
Plus 70,000 substations to support the rise of renewable energy and battery storage, which would bring the cost to more than $2.5 trillion.
The average American drives their car about 13,500 miles per year, meaning the standard electric vehicle will typically require about 3,857 kWh of electricity per year, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation (DoT).
A kilowatt-hour (kWh) is a unit of energy that measures how much electricity is used and is equivalent to a 100-watt light bulb used for 10 hours straight.
Electricity demand in the transportation sector will likely rise from about 21 billion kWh last year to between 123 billion and 211 billion kWh over the next 11 years, according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Energy Information Administration (EIA).
“Right now, our infrastructure is likely ‘fine’ for the slow adoption of electric vehicles,” Robby DeGraff, Consumer Products and Insights Manager at AutoPacific, told DailyMail.com.
But the drastic increase in electricity consumption means that “there will certainly be a need to renew the network,” he added.
Electricity demand in states like Georgia has risen to record levels, placing the state in the top 10 for total energy consumption.
In 2022, Georgia Power projected The state would see energy demand grow by 400 megawatts for all electricity needs between 2023 and 2030, but revised its estimates for the next seven years, saying it will see growth of 6,600 megawatts, 17 times its previous forecast.
Arizona Public Service has also projected that it will max out its transmission capacity before the end of the decade.
A 2023 study The California Public Utilities Commission revealed that the state will need to spend $50 billion by 2035 on power grid upgrades to meet its electric vehicle goals.
Last year, total electricity demand in the United States was 3.8 trillion kWh, but that number is expected to rise to between 4,200 and 4,300 by 2035, with electric vehicles accounting for about a third of the total growth, the EIA reported. .
Some estimates have suggested the grid will need an additional 15 billion to 27 billion kWh to power electric vehicles by 2050, said Albert Gore, chief executive of marketing technology firm ZETA. Government Technology.
Albert is the son of former Vice President Al Gore, whose long-standing work in climate change activism earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 2007.
The EIA spokesman said the agency sees no current problems with expanding the grid to meet future electricity needs, but acknowledged it does not have the tools to model how many upgrades will be needed to localized distribution networks.
“I think the biggest and most pressing concern is all of the aging grid infrastructure that exists in the United States in many corners of the country, which currently can’t even handle a summer heat surge, severe weather or a cold snap,” DeGraff warned.
‘That’s the most critical issue. Look at what happened in Texas.
Surging demand for electricity in Texas caused 4.5 million customers to lose power for several days during an intense cold snap in 2021.
The blackout is known as the worst in Texas history and caused the deaths of 246 people spread across 77 counties, 65 percent of which were related to exposure to extreme cold, including hypothermia.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it is taking steps to upgrade its infrastructure and will be equipped to handle the growing number of people investing in electric vehicles.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) told DailyMail.com that the rise of electric vehicles will not impact the power grid, stating that it will only ‘increase electric power sector generation by about one percent in 2030, nine percent in 2040, and 12 percent in 2050.’
The agency added that the power grid has kept all technology up to date, such as using more residential and commercial air conditioning between the 1970s and 1990s, and said this shows that “our energy system is up to the task of meeting additional demand.
The Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC) said it is taking steps to update infrastructure and said it will be equipped to deal with the growing number of people investing in electric vehicles.
The spokesperson added that it includes directing applicants to “develop engagement plans to reach out to environmental justice communities and tribes” that would be affected by the construction, operation and maintenance of the infrastructure.
The engagement plans would also allow them to “engage with landowners” when applying for 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 is not a quick and easy 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 electric vehicles will likely never 100 percent replace all gasoline-powered vehicles on the road anytime soon, market share is growing year over year, as is demand,” DeGraff said.
“Therefore, it would be prudent to begin the necessary preparations to protect the network now.”
