EV committee appointed

The Utah Office of Energy Development (OED), in partnership with the Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), has created a steering committee to work through topics and strategies related to the implementation of the Statewide Electric Vehicle Charging Network Plan. The Electric Vehicle Service Equipment Steering Committee, conceived under Section 5.1 of the plan, met for the first time earlier this month.

The committee includes 15 people from public and private organizations throughout the state. Thom Carter, energy advisor to Gov. Spencer Cox, will chair the committee.

Members of the committee and their affiliations include Lyle McMillan, Utah Department of Transportation; Bailey Toolson, OED; Becky Close, Division of Air Quality of the Department of Environmental Quality; Michelle Brown, Department of Government Operations (DGO); Daniel Black, DGO; and Robert Slade, DGO.

Also on the committee are Vicki Varella, Office of Tourism and the Governor’s Office of Economic Opportunity; Scott Strong, Division of Parks and Recreation, and the Department of Natural Resources; Laura Hanson, Governor’s Office of Planning and Budget; Kim Frost, Utah Clean Air Partnership (UCAIR); Britton Bettrige, Leaders For Clean Air; David Christensen, ASPIRE Research Center; James Campbell, Rocky Mountain Power; and Jeff Peterson, Utah Rural Electric Cooperatives Association.

One of their primary goals is to alleviate range anxiety that may come with ownership of an electric vehicle, the organization said in a release.

“Electric vehicle infrastructure is critical to our transportation future,” said Carlos Bracesas, executive director of UDOT. “This steering committee will help us implement an electric vehicle charging network to support the increasing use of electric vehicles statewide.”

“With the vast amounts of private and public investment focused on EVs and EV infrastructure, we are excited to get this committee together to focus on the best ways to serve the people of the state,” said Carter. “As we focus on policy, trends, research and partnerships, we want to ensure Utah is in a position to lead in the evolution of our energy and transportation sectors.”

The committee is expected to meet quarterly.