Washington utilities Seattle City Light and Puget Sound Energy Inc. have turned to Enel X Srl, a grid services affiliate of Italian power company Enel SpA, to help launch new programs for residential electric vehicle charging, the companies announced Oct. 8.
Enel X will supply more than 550 residential customers with its remote-controlled "JuiceBox" chargers, which help utilities manage charging on their systems, among other features. Enel acquired the technology in 2017 with its purchase of Silicon Valley startup eMotorWerks, part of its expansion into EV charging and smart grid products.
"As more of our customers are choosing to drive electric cars, we want to support them with smart-charging solutions but also understand the unique impacts of EV charging on the grid," Heather Mulligan, Puget Sound Energy's manager of clean energy solutions, said in a news release.
Both utilities said they plan to use lessons learned from using Enel's technology to inform future EV charging programs.
A recent report from Seattle City Light and nonprofit consulting group Rocky Mountain Institute recommended managed charging of electric vehicles to prevent potential negative impacts on the city's grid. While personal EVs "are not anticipated to pose much risk" for Seattle City Light, larger electric vehicles such as buses and trucks "have the very real potential to overwhelm available capacity and require grid upgrades," the report said.
Seattle is one of the fastest growing EV markets in the U.S. outside of California. EVs on Washington roads are expected to increase to 140,000 by 2030 from 50,000 in 2019, representing a jump of up to 344,000 MWh in new annual electricity demand, the report said.
