Utility EV Investments to Increase by 88% According to New Utility Dive Pulse Report

Bidgely and Utility Dive survey reveals utility EV investment drivers, challenges, and opportunities through improved EV customer insights

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Bidgely and leading energy industry outlet Utility Dive have released a new report, What Utilities Know (And Don’t Know) About EV Drivers and How Better Customer Insights Can Maximize Utility Investments in Electric Vehicles, which includes survey results from around 150 leading mostly North American utility professionals. The report underscores the EV momentum underway at their organizations while also highlighting the benefits improved EV customer insights could provide in guiding utility incentives, outreach, resource planning, education and ratemaking.

Key findings include that nine out of 10 utility executives surveyed reported their companies plan to increase investments in customer programs and infrastructure to support EV ownership over the next two to three years. By large majorities, survey respondents said that their EV investments and programs were being driven by customer demand (61 percent) and revenue opportunities (57 percent), although corporate sustainability goals (46 percent) and company carbon reduction commitments (32 percent) were also cited.

Importantly, only 13 percent of utility executives said the quality of their companies’ insights into both the charging behavior of their current EV customers and the likelihood that other customers would buy an EV in the future was excellent. The report concluded that precise, house-level data insights derived from smart meters can identify EV charging patterns, Level 1 or Level 2 chargers in the home and even customers’ propensity to buy an EV without installation of additional equipment by the utility.

“Historically speaking, utilities have relied on Department of Motor Vehicles data in order to understand where EVs are registered. But that data is really difficult to obtain in a timely manner, it doesn’t update on an ongoing basis and it doesn’t provide any insight into the charging behaviors or driving patterns of the EV owners,” says Heather Williams, director of strategy and growth for Bidgely in North America. “Lack of EV insights can impact where and how many charging stations are installed. You can end up putting in either the wrong number of chargers or chargers in the wrong locations because the decisions are based on an incomplete understanding of driving patterns.”

Other notable findings from the survey included:

• 61 percent of utilities have already installed company-owned chargers to support EV ownership
• 51 percent offer financial incentives to encourage purchases of EVs
• 42 percent have made investments to raise awareness about EV benefits
• 37 percent offer special EV charging rates

To access the full report, visit: go.bidgely.com/UtilityDive-EV-Whitepaper

Join the upcoming Bidgely and Utility Dive webinar How to Use Data to Drive Your EV Investment Plans on Thursday, June 17 at 2:00 PM Eastern Daylight Time for a deep dive into the results of the survey and insights that can guide utilities’ incentives, outreach, resource planning, ratemaking and more.

About Bidgely

Bidgely is an AI-powered SaaS Company accelerating a clean energy future by enabling energy companies and consumers to make data-driven energy-related decisions. Powered by our unique patented technology, Bidgely's UtilityAI™ Platform transforms multiple dimensions of customer data - such as energy consumption, demographic, and interactions - into deeply accurate and actionable consumer energy insights. We leverage these insights to empower each customer with personalized recommendations, tailored to their individual personality and lifestyle, usage attributes, behavioral patterns, purchase propensity, and beyond. From a Distributed Energy Resources (DER) and Grid Edge perspective, whether it is smart thermostats to EV chargers, solar PVs to TOU rate designs and tariffs; UtilityAI™ energy analytics provides deep visibility into generation, consumption for better peak load shaping and grid planning, and delivers targeted recommendations for new value-added products and services. With roots in Silicon Valley, Bidgely has over 17 energy patents, $50M+ in funding, retains 30+ data scientists, and brings a passion for AI to utilities serving residential and commercial customers around the world. For more information, please visit www.bidgely.com or the Bidgely blog at bidgely.com/blog.