AEG BOSTON 21Q4 STAKEHOLDER CHALLENGE RECAP

Author: Chloe Friedheim, Fellow, AEG Boston

On December 16th, 2021 AEG Stakeholders met in Boston at Holland & Knight offices to identify the most critical mobility and transportation obstacles that the state and city must overcome in order to achieve its carbon and equity goals. At the forefront of this discussion was how to prioritize infrastructure investments to eliminate MHDV pollution emissions by 2030 while prioritizing community health and welfare.

Above: James Cater, Program Lead - EV Infrastructure, Eversource, provides Opening Remarks at the AEG Boston 21Q4 Stakeholder Challenge at Holland & Knight

Eversource’s EV Infrastructure Program Lead, James Carter, jump-started the Stakeholder Challenge with an introduction to Massachusetts' ongoing work to expand EV infrastructure throughout the state. Eversource provides electricity to residents throughout Massachusetts.

Hayes Morrison, Chief of Mobility at MassDOT, continued the introductions with a look at the future of transportation in Boston. According to Morrison, by 2030, the City of Somerville aims to transition half of their transportation to sources other than cars. At AEG Stakeholder Challenges, Stakeholders will identify ways to reduce emissions so that cities (such as Boston) can reach their emission reduction goals (with equity in mind).

Above: Hayes Morrison, Chief of Mobility, MassDOT, provides Opening Remarks at the AEG Boston 21Q4 Stakeholder Challenge.

The Speaker Challenge was kicked-off by Yann Kulp, Co-Founder of eIQ Mobility-Fleet Electrification. Kulp raised the issue of EV fleet installations, and named “time, incentive, knowledge, and capital” as the main obstacles to installation of small and medium electrical vehicle fleets. A major barrier to this, as Kulp identified in his obstacle statement, is access to turnkey suppliers that will be able to deliver “end to end solutions”. Kulp hopes to assist in opening doors for small business owners to competitively enter the EV marketplace.

John Nolan, Managing Director of Transportation and The Campus Service Center at Harvard University, introduced Stakeholders to his new fleet of EV buses. For Nolan, a major obstacle in the expansion of an EV fleet is fleet reliability when grid interruptions occur. Nolan hopes that working on fixing these holes in the system will allow Harvard to meet its goal of fossil fuel neutrality by 2026 and fossil fuel free by 2050.

Kathleen Connors, CEO of Voltrek, is dedicated to expanding EV transportation and its subsequent charging stations. For her obstacle statement, Connors called attention to the funding gap between phases of EVSE rebates and utility make-ready programs. The elimination of the funding gap would decrease the risk of budgeting and workforce issues for smaller companies.

Jannet Walker-Ford, National Transit & Rail Business Line Lead/SVP at WSP, shed light on the gap in infrastructure in low income communities. These communities tend to be the ones impacted the most by pollution and its subsequent illnesses. Walker-Ford spoke to the urgency of investment in infrastructure that eliminates MDHV pollution emissions in order to reach 2030 emission goals. The lack of urgency is a timely game to play with a community’s health and welfare.

Each Speaker Challenger brought much needed attention to infrastructure issues that affect citizens and small business owners of Boston. Ultimately, after deliberation and voting, the group selected Jannet Walker-Ford’s obstacle statement as the most critical. Stakeholders worked in small breakout-groups to develop 12-month solutions to Walker-Ford’s obstacle.

After each group presented their subsequent solutions, followed by a lively discussion, Stakeholders narrowed in on the 12-month solution to implement charging solutions for medium and heavy fleets in Boston. As a first step, the group will assess places in Boston that lack the infrastructure to implement these MDHV charging solutions. Then, the Task Force will identify partners to work with, and finally then work towards finding funding for these solutions

Above: Breakout Challenge winners, Table #3; this group developed the winning 12-month solution to Jannet Walker-Ford’s selected obstacle statement.

Over 15 members signed up to be a part of the AEG Boston 21Q4 Task Force; this is a testament to the mission and impact that this Task Force will have on Boston’s clean energy future. We look forward to the achievements this Task Force will produce and how it will aid Boston’s transportation infrastructure. If you would like to join this Task Force, please contact Chloe Friedheim (chloe@goadvancedenergy.com).

Join us for the AEG Boston 22Q1 Stakeholder Challenge on Critical Infrastructure, Equity, and Resilience on March 31st @ Holland & Knight (Boston). Register here.