Beneficial electrification, by Loren Howard
In the last year or so, the term “beneficial electrification” has become an ever increasing popular phrase. It seems to me that various interest groups have their own interpretation of the meaning of the phrase. So, let’s explore the various interpretations and see if there is a consensus to be found.
Starting with an easy topic – electric vehicles. Promotion and acceptance of electric vehicles seems to have an awkward start. Driving around metro areas like Denver and Colorado Springs, spotting an electric vehicle is a regular occurrence. That is not quite so true here in the San Luis Valley. Electric vehicles have the potential to significantly reduce air emissions which would seem to fit the idea of beneficial electrification. Driving through Denver on a weekday with a temperature inversion makes it easy to see the benefit of reducing automobile emissions.
There are some groups who would say that this beneficial electrification is only beneficial if the electricity to charge the vehicle comes from a renewable resource such as solar or wind. Renewable electric generation has come a long way and represents a significant fraction of electric generation of most utilities including Tri-State and REC. At least a reasonable portion of electric generation used to recharge electric vehicles is coming from renewable sources.
Another, more recent development that is being suggested as beneficial electrification by some governmental entities in particular is considering reducing, and maybe prohibiting, using natural gas or propane for domestic use in new construction. This would then push future domestic energy use to electricity. The Colorado Public Utilities Commission currently has a proceeding entitled “Investigation Into Retail Natural Gas for GHG Emissions,” Proceeding Number: 20M-0439G. This investigation will look into how domestic natural gas usage is impacting greenhouse gas emissions. Cities in California have already banned domestic use of natural gas in new construction.
Electricity is an easily distributed energy source, generated in many different ways. Will it pervasively  replace fossil fuels used in our everyday lives? Will fuels such as natural gas, gasoline, diesel and propane ultimately be phased out? I think one of the key developments needed to do that will be finding an electric generation source that is of utility scale and controllable to support the uncontrollable renewable generation sources. No doubt, there are other interpretations of the term “beneficial electrification,” but a common theme in all the definitions would be replacing fossil fuels with electricity.