KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Electric utility investments are lowering the cost of EV ownership and charging, while benefiting all ratepayers
- Consumer and commercial utility programs are making EVs more affordable
- EV education and outreach are essential programs that utilities are investing in to advance the market
- Electric utilities are helping fleet operators overcome electrification challenges
- Xcel Energy Colorado, Austin Energy, ComEd, Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power, Sacramento Municipal Utility District, Pasadena Water and Power are examples of utilities investing in EVs
- Vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology represents a new EV financial opportunity
- The future of EVs will increasingly depend on state and utility leadership
Educating Americans about the cost-savings and lifestyle benefits of electric vehicles (EVs) is critically important because upfront vehicle cost and charging anxiety remain the primary barriers for transitioning both passenger vehicles and fleet vehicles to electric. Veloz’s Electric For All consumer education campaign has been tackling these barriers for the past year and, while they have always existed, they were exacerbated in 2025 with the sunsetting of the federal tax credits for passenger and commercial EVs and the disruption of billions of dollars of funding allocated for public charging projects. In response, we have seen sectors throughout the EV industry fill the gap left by these unprecedented shifts — from automakers to state and local government agencies to rideshare operators. While these gap-filling efforts are moving the needle, electric utilities across the country have picked up the leadership mantle once held by federal government leadership, becoming EV market accelerators by increasing their already-significant investments to further drive adoption and scale programs that holistically address systemic barriers to transportation electrification.
Since 2015, American electric utilities have invested over $6 billion dollars towards programs that work to remove roadblocks to electrification such as financial incentives lowering vehicle costs, strategic infrastructure programs that lower the cost to install charging ports, innovative rate designs that lower charging costs for drivers while supporting grid reliability and safety. In addition, electric utilities have dedicated efforts towards EV education tools and messaging campaigns. This systemic approach has not only made the utility sector a primary catalyst for adoption but is also putting downward pressure on electricity costs for all ratepayers that results from more vehicles plugging into the grid. In fact, although EVs in both the consumer sector and fleet operations are expected to become a substantial source of energy demand in the years to come, EVs also have immense potential to help support grid optimization and save ratepayers money if they’re leveraged strategically. New research from Georgia Tech showed that widespread EV adoption by 2035 would cut energy bills for U.S. households by more than 6%.
LIGHT DUTY PASSENGER EVS: ADVANCING CONSUMER ADOPTION
On the consumer side of EV adoption, utilities across the U.S. have long-offered special time-of-use rates which provide discounted electricity costs for home charging. Xcel Energy in Colorado, for example, offers a managed charging program which rewards EV drivers who charge their vehicle at home during off-peak hours with credits that lower their overall electricity bill. Additionally, the utility runs an incentive program to reduce the cost of the home charger itself. Similarly, many utilities, like Austin Energy, work with their residential customers to help them save money on home charging by also reducing the cost of charger installation. These programs are, in part, why Colorado ranks as the number one state nationwide in total EV market share and why Austin, Texas is ranked in the top ten metropolitan cities nationwide in total EV market share.
In California, several utilities — including Pacific Gas & Electric, Southern California Edison, San Diego Gas & Electric, Los Angeles Department of Water & Power and Pasadena Water & Power Department — are working to make EVs more affordable and fill the gap left by the now-expired federal tax credits by offering vehicle rebates on pre-owned EVs to eligible customers in their service territories. These rebates, which can total up to $4,000, break down the barrier of upfront EV costs for thousands of Californians. With used EVs quickly becoming the most cost-effective vehicles for purchase today, these cost-saving programs are bringing clean transportation to households who were previously priced out of the market.
Utilities have also invested heavily in consumer outreach and education to help drive EV adoption. Alongside their EV incentives, the Sacramento Municipal Utility District (SMUD) in California invests in broad community outreach efforts including direct-to-consumer outreach, ride and drive events, a call center with EV advisors, interactive buyer’s guides and more. Additionally, utilities like SMUD have invested in Veloz’s brand neutral consumer education campaigns and web tools — leveraging their resources to reach more consumers about going electric.
LIGHT-DUTY COMMERCIAL EVS: ACCELERATING FLEET ELECTRIFICATION
When it comes to fleet electrification, we know that fleet operators cannot confidently transition their commercial vehicles without considering the total cost of ownership, the capital and operating expenses related to behind-the-fence charging infrastructure, and the availability of en route public charging, which serves duty cycles when a vehicle cannot operationally return to base. In other words, the business case for switching to electric must be economically feasible. Utilities have answered that call by offering funding, special electricity rates, and rebates to reduce the cost of electrifying fleet vehicles and offset the cost of public and private charging.
In March 2026, ComEd in Illinois made more than $35 million in rebates available to support the purchase or lease of new and pre-owned fleet EVs of all weight classes, and over $29 million to cover costs for public and private Level 2 and DC Fast Charging. This program builds upon the $100 million ComEd has already invested in rebate programs starting in 2024 which funded the purchase of more than 2,200 fleet electric vehicles across all weight classes, including light-duty models. While these incentives helped the financial argument for electrification, this success equally relied on ComEd’s Make-Ready Rebate Program which paired the point-of-sale vehicle rebate with a parallel program that funded up to 100% of the electrical infrastructure and site preparation costs required to install EV chargers. It also relied on the fact that over the years, the utility’s rebate programs have helped add over 10,000 EV chargers in Northern Illinois, growing the overall public charging network in a manner that benefits fleet operators as well as private EV drivers. In the same way utilities nationwide are funding consumer education, ComEd ensured these financial incentives were backed by direct outreach, education, and fleet electrification toolkits which resulted in a 106% increase in application and reservation volume in the first year these efforts were launched.
A NEW FRONTIER: MAKING AN EV PURCHASE A REVENUE GENERATOR
Utilities are also on the cutting edge of making the vehicles a profit center as vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology is transitioning from the experimental pilot phase to commercial viability. In 2025, Maryland became the first state in the U.S. to pass comprehensive (V2G) legislation, allowing EVs with bidirectional chargers to connect to the distribution grid so that EV owners can be compensated for the energy the vehicles discharge during peak strain periods. To quantify the overall benefits to all rate-payers and potential earnings to EV owners, we can look to the findings from a recent pilot program performed by the University of Delaware, Delmarva Power, PJM Interconnection and Ford Motor which showed that V2G-enabled passenger EVs had the potential to earn up to $3,359 annually while larger commercial fleet vehicles can generate over $9,000 per year. These real-world benefits extend the positive effect of EVs far beyond personal ownership through their ability to enhance the reliability of the power grid while also capitalizing on the vehicle’s earning power for individual owners.
As the federal government has removed EV-friendly policies over the last year, we have seen more states step up to spearhead EV policy and drive toward widespread transportation electrification. And electric utilities have a very specific role to play as well. Their holistic approach has helped reduce the total cost of ownership for both residential customers and fleet operators — from time-of-use rates and used EV incentives to deployment of publicly available chargers — all while making investments in the grid that can benefit every ratepayer. Through these efforts, many utilities have proven their commitment to an Electric For All future and demonstrated the value of cross-sector collaboration in scaling the financial benefits of EV adoption.
Convening like-minded leadership nationwide is more critical than ever before. Veloz maintains a strong record of collaborating across sectors to support policies and initiatives that advance EV adoption nationwide by leveraging its leadership, 35+ members, communications channels, and connections.
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