New Jersey has a goal of 330,000 electric vehicles (EVs) on the road by 2025, but we’re not even 10 percent of the way there. At the same time, the State’s Draft Energy Master Plan ranks New Jersey 45th in the country for EV charging infrastructure.

Tackling the largest source of greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions in the state—the transportation sector—and closing the gap from the less than 30,000 EVs on the road today to the State’s 330,000 EV goal, requires immediate action. We’re ready to help. Connecting the communities we serve to clean transportation solutions supports our commitment to environmental responsibility and our mission to power a cleaner and brighter future. And, with a footprint across the region, we’re uniquely positioned to help grow this industry and bring new EV services and programs to South Jersey that ensure all customers and communities have equitable access to clean transportation options and EV charging infrastructure.

We can start by expanding the amount EV charging stations, offering rebates, incentives and special rates, and electrifying public transportation. This means helping bring EV charging to underserved locations, where no EV chargers currently exist, and helping ensure access to public EV chargers in communities across our service area. It also means providing rebates, grants and incentives to residential customers, businesses, nonprofits, schools and public transit organizations to help them take the initial steps to connect to electric transportation options.

Growing demand for EVs will not only require more EV charging infrastructure, it also will require enhancements to the local energy grid to help maintain safe, reliable and affordable service. According to a ChargEVC study, EV charging in New Jersey is projected to grow electricity consumption by 30 percent by 2035 as EVs become more popular. This growth will have major impacts on load and demand on the energy grid. As the energy provider responsible for managing the grid across South Jersey, we will play a critical role in modernizing the region’s energy infrastructure to meet growing interest in electric transportation.

Advancing electric transportation in the state is a collaborative effort and we’re ready to do our part. We already filed an initial proposal in 2018, but we realize there’s more we can do to support this growing industry and the State’s goals. We will continue to put forward even more solutions and programs that help meet our customers’ growing interest in EVs, bring cleaner air to our communities, create more opportunities for the broader industry, and position New Jersey as a clean transportation leader.

Gary Stockbridge is the region president for Atlantic City Electric and Delmarva Power.