Re-charging incentives for electrification

Florida utility JEA is leading the charge on electrification. Since 2014, we have worked with JEA to develop its beneficial electrification strategy and deliver its program. Our initial focus was on incentivizing commercial and industrial customers to replace their most common fossil fuel technologies—including forklifts, cranes, airport ground support equipment, and manufacturing equipment—with highly efficient electric technologies. The first phase of the program was enormously successful: by the end of the 2019 fiscal year, JEA’s beneficial electrification program had generated a total of 337 GWh of energy sales and $21 million in new revenue, while also establishing JEA as a trusted electrification advisor to its customers.

But JEA wanted to do even more. In October 2020, the utility launched an expanded second phase of its program, aimed at helping JEA customers further reduce their total energy costs and lower operational and maintenance costs—all while improving regional air quality through reduced carbon emissions.

Our challenge was to develop a five-year strategic program plan to expand the current program, deliver cost-effective off-peak load growth, and continue to support JEA’s goal of delivering compelling and effective electrification solutions to its customers.

In 2019, we presented JEA with an electrification expansion strategic plan that would increase the load-growth goals and reach of the existing program and add new technologies, including commercial on-road and fleet vehicle electrification opportunities. The JEA board of directors approved the proposal as a five-year program (with an additional one-year extension option), launching in 2020.

Building on the success of the program, the second phase of JEA’s electrification program will deliver a bigger impact designed to target new technologies—including transit and school buses, beverage carts, drones, conveyor systems, and commercial fleet electrification. The program expansion will allow JEA to deliver new technical and business expertise to its customers, helping them become more efficient and profitable. JEA will strengthen its relationship with the community while translating these new, advanced, clean, and efficient electric technologies into long-term annual and cumulative revenue potential for the utility. In addition, JEA has become a key partner to its customers in helping them meet their sustainability goals through emissions reductions.