National Grid Statement on the Transportation Climate Initiative’s Framework for a Draft Regional Policy Proposal

October 3, 2019

 CONTACT: Media Relations – 781-907-3980

A statement from Dean Seavers, President, National Grid, US

“National Grid is committed to achieving deep decarbonization across the Northeast.  The transportation sector, which is currently the largest emitter of greenhouse gases, is poised for meaningful and necessary reductions. As outlined in our Northeast 80x50 Pathway, we support an economy-wide price on carbon and commend the inclusion of a cap-and-invest construct in the Transportation Climate Initiative’s policy framework as an important contribution to our collective decarbonization efforts.”

Seavers continued, “National Grid looks forward to working with federal and state leaders, policy makers, and stakeholders to advance this important policy initiative and continues to believe the regional approach undertaken by the Transportation and Climate Initiative is the most effective course of action.”

As the Transportation and Climate Initiative continues to finalize their policy frameworks, National Grid urges that policy prescriptions:

• Set a sufficiently aggressive emissions cap to drive transportation emissions reductions and raise revenue to fund investment in clean transportation;
• Invest a significant portion of revenues in focused ways that align with our states’ electrification ambitions, and maintain priorities of increased access and affordability for customers;
• Guarantee that the benefits and burdens of the program are shared equitably across communities, and improve access to transportation options for underserved and overburdened populations; and
• Enable thoughtful interaction with RGGI (Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative) to maximize the efficiency of both programs while limiting customer bill impacts.

National Grid is committed to leading by example on the electrification of the transportation sector:

• National Grid will be implementing nearly $35 million in electric transport related initiatives - such as charging infrastructure, customer outreach/education, and grid integration - over the next three years in all our jurisdictions; and
• Launched an electric vehicle (EV) adoption program for employees, facilitating the sale/lease of more than 350 EVs since the program launch in 2018;
• Installed over 100 charging ports at 20 of our facilities to date, with more planned soon;
• Committed to investing 5% of corporate fleet budget to EVs;
• We own and manage 150 Level 2 stations across our jurisdictions and have installed three DC fast charging stations in the Commonwealth with state grant funding.
• National Grid US President Dean Seavers serves as a co-chair of the national Alliance to Save Energy’s "50x50 Commission,” a diverse group of stakeholders working to reduce energy use in the transportation sector by 50% by 2050 while also meeting future mobility needs.

The framework for a draft regional policy proposal from the Transportation and Climate Initiative can be found here.