Carbitrage: Utility Integration of Electric Vehicles and the Smart Grid

Growing penetration of plug-in electric vehicles will force a radical re-think of the way the electricity industry handles physical and economic challenges at the retail distribution level. While EVs will not affect capacity adequacy in the short term, utilities will need to handle areas of immediate stress on the local distribution network. In addition, increasing uptake of EVs will require a new approach to the traditional utility rate base model. But growing EV penetration can be leveraged to increase grid reliability and develop a more robust retail rate model.