MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING

WHEREAS the Biden Administration’s commitment to climate change, air quality, equity, and job creation goals necessitates bold action to change how America moves goods and people; and

WHEREAS the response to climate change can create millions of well-paying jobs in the United States that should be filled by diverse, local, well trained workers—including women and people of color; and

WHEREAS transportation is the nation’s largest source of carbon pollution and the largest source of local air pollution that disproportionately burdens historically marginalized communities; and

WHEREAS clear inequities in COVID-19 exposure, morbidity, and mortality adds urgency to efforts to reduce air pollution in communities that have suffered most in the pandemic; and

WHEREAS, on average, driving on electricity emits half as much carbon pollution as driving on gasoline and emissions benefits increase as America’s power sector continues to integrate zero-emission generation; and

WHEREAS transportation electrification is critical to meeting climate goals, industrial policy objectives and job creation; and

WHEREAS in order for consumers to purchase EVs, they must be assured that they will be able to refuel reliably, as they do today—a robust nationwide network of charging infrastructure for electric light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles is needed to support the scale and pace of transportation electrification required to meet climate, air quality, equity, and job creation goals; and

WHEREAS the benefits of transportation electrification should be broadly shared, including those in communities that are burdened disproportionately by local air pollution from the transportation sector and low-income households that spend a disproportionate share of their income on vehicle fuel and maintenance; and

WHEREAS states and cities have already taken significant actions and made binding commitments to speed the deployment of charging infrastructure and promote adoption of zero-emission light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles, providing a foundation upon which national actions and collaborations can build; and

WHEREAS many businesses, large and small, have committed to reduce or eliminate their carbon pollution, and fleet electrification is a critical component of those commitments; and

WHEREAS automobile, truck and bus manufacturers have invested tens of billions of dollars over the last ten years in every facet of electric vehicle technology, making those vehicles more affordable and increasing their performance; and

WHEREAS carbon emissions from the electric sector are at their lowest level in 40 years and 40 percent of U.S. power generation comes from carbon-free sources; and

WHEREAS the electric sector continues to reduce its carbon emissions and will continue to deploy increasing amounts of clean, carbon-free power as part of this continued progress; and

WHEREAS America’s electric utilities have partnered with numerous customers – public and private –  to deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure, educated their customers about the benefits of electric vehicles, and implement rates and programs to encourage electric vehicle charging that benefits all electric utility customers; and

WHEREAS state utility regulators across the country have authorized electric companies to deploy more than $3 billion in transportation electrification investments, of which more than $800 million will be made in historically marginalized communities; and  

WHERAS State Energy Offices in every region of the nation are integrating electric distribution system and EV charging infrastructure planning and policy, coordinating with environmental agencies in the investment of $2.9 billion in VW settlement funds, collaborating with consumer-owned utilities and local governments on EV infrastructure planning, and spearheading state and regional governor-designated EV infrastructure deployment actions and polices; and

WHEREAS electric vehicle charging service providers have deployed more than 100,000 charging ports throughout the United States, but the pace of that deployment must accelerate to provide ubiquitous access to the use of electricity as a transportation fuel; and

WHEREAS the nation’s service stations and truck stops occupy locations along travel corridors that are consistently used by the traveling public; and

WHEREAS, while a record amount of capital is being deployed to electrify our transportation systems and many public- and private-sector initiatives are already underway, that collective effort must scale up rapidly to achieve affordable, clean transportation and to meet the Biden administration’s climate, air quality, equity, and job creation goals.

WHEREAS; until the number of EVs on the road reaches a critical mass there is an important role for federal policy to make private investments more viable while providing long-term consumer benefits.

WE THEREFORE RESOLVE THAT

Achieving the environmental, health and financial benefits of this emerging technology will require a new paradigm to guide when and how to deploy both public and private resources. It will also require more collaboration between policymakers at all levels of government, fleet owners, organized labor, electric utilities, and financiers.  A common framework is needed so that these parties can understand the full range of challenges and benefits and craft a holistic approach to meet our goals.

This new framework must support a robust business case for private sector investment in multiple transportation sectors to leverage funding and other forms of support from the public sector.  And it must use an “All of Government” approach to realize a 21st century transportation system that unifies us in all respects.

Together, we can increase the speed, scope, and scale of electric vehicle infrastructure goals.

WE COMMIT TO THE FOLLOWING

DEVELOP A FRAMEWORK for a national charging network for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles needed to meet air quality, climate, equity and job creation goals; 

SERVE AS A FORUM to communicate what has been done, what we are doing now, and elicit new and mutually reinforcing commitments to speed widespread transportation electrification;

COLLABORATE to bring together an unprecedented coalition of vehicle manufacturers, electric utilities, electric vehicle charging companies, fuel retailers, labor, government, and public interest organizations;

PARTNER in the public and private sector to ensure drivers have access to charging stations at home, at work, and on the road, and that our goods are moved with increasingly clean electricity;

ENSURE BENEFITS from transportation electrification are realized in underserved and marginalized communities;

DEVELOP GUIDING PRINCIPLES to promote electric vehicle adoption and charging infrastructure deployment in a manner that builds upon national, state, and regional goals;

EXECUTE AN ACTION PLAN within six months to identify private and public actions to speed the deployment of a national charging network for light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicles;

COMMIT CAPITAL AND RESOURCES to speed the deployment of electric vehicles and charging infrastructure;

SUPPORT FEDERAL, STATE, AND LOCAL ACTIONS to approve shovel ready charging infrastructure projects that will put people to work, infuse the economy with billions of dollars of investment, and increase access to clean transportation.