How to charge into the electric vehicle era and not overtax Alberta's power grid

This column is an opinion by Aviv Fried, a data analyst and recent graduate of the master of public policy program at the University of Calgary. For more information about CBC's Opinion section, please see the FAQ.

The future is here: electric vehicles are coming in droves. 

If you thought that Albertans would not jump on this electric bandwagon, the Ford F-150 Lightning could change your mind. Ford Canada is no longer taking reservations for its new electric truck due to high demand, with orders stretching well into 2023.

Alberta had 3,527 electric vehicles registered by March 2021, nearly triple the total from two years earlier. Although the number of EVs registered in Alberta is behind other parts of the country, the trend is clear.

Enmax predicts Calgary will be home to up to 300,000 EVs by 2030. Five years later, the federal government mandates that all new vehicles sold be zero-emission.

The shift from internal combustion engines to EVs will challenge the electrical grid in two ways.

First, an increase in demand will require significant investment in electricity generation, transmission and distribution. Some of these costs will be transferred to customers through increased electricity rates — and recent price hikes are already causing burdens for residents. Investment in renewable energies, such as solar and wind, which are cheaper to install and cheaper for the consumer, can offer a partial solution.

Second, the increase in demand will require utility companies to manage the distribution system overload. Demand is already high in the early evenings when people come home from work and switch on their lights and appliances — and it will only get worse as multiple studies indicate most EV owners plug in their cars around 5 p.m. 

A recent study of EV owners in Calgary that I conducted for the University of Calgary, but have not yet published, suggested that if charging patterns are left unmanaged, increasing the number of plug-ins in Calgary to 200,000 would require an additional 1,000 megawatts of electricity. That's an increase of six per cent over the exiting capacity in all of Alberta. 

To limit this potential surge in demand, and to better manage the electricity system, Albertans could shift their charging patterns from high-demand to low-demand times. Instead of just spending to upgrade the system — which consumers will ultimately pay for — utility companies should educate and incentivize EV owners to charge their vehicles during low-demand periods.

An even more effective solution would be to manage demand using technologies that co-ordinate EV charging and identify the mix of electricity being generated. Such a system will initiate charging at times of low demand and when electricity is generated in a higher percentage by renewable energy sources, such as solar and wind.

My study showed that, on average, EV owners plugged in their vehicles for 15 hours a day, but the actual charging time was just over two hours. This short-charging can happen any time during the plugged-in period and should occur when demand is low and renewable sources power the grid.

Developing such technologies will require two-way communication between utilities and energy consumers. Getting there will take time and investment.

In the meantime, there are low-hanging fruit solutions that can bring us closer to managing demand and reducing the impact of EV adoption on the grid.