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Maria Fuentes is the executive director of the Maine Better Transportation Association. Brian Parke is the president and CEO of the Maine Motor Transport Association.
Recently three environmental organizations, The Conservation Law Foundation (CLF), Natural Resources Council of Maine (NRCM), and Sierra Club, petitioned the Maine Board of Environmental Protection (BEP) to adopt the California Advanced Clean Trucks Rule. This California law would set mandatory sales thresholds for zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) heavy-duty trucks, despite industry preparedness to use them. We believe adopting this rule in Maine makes little sense.
While the groups we represent, along with most organizations we have talked to, strongly support the goal of reducing emissions in the transportation sector, it makes no sense to us to force California ideas on Maine, when the state is nowhere near ready for it.
Maine’s electrical grid is not currently equipped to service heavy-duty electric trucks, and our charging infrastructure isn’t advanced enough yet either. Maine currently has 432 public access charging stations, and 922 charging ports, most of which are located in Southern Maine. Oxford, Franklin, Piscataquis, Aroostook, and Washington Counties have only a handful each, and of those charging stations, there are only three in Maine that are equipped to charge large tractor-trailers. This means electric tractor trailer trucks could be forced to alter their routes significantly to ensure they have access to compatible charging stations, adding time to each trip and contributing to shipping delays. Comparatively, California has 87,707 charging ports, the most of any state in the country.
An average diesel semi-truck can travel up to 2,000 miles before refueling. Depending on the model, electric semis can go only 150 to 500 miles before the truck will need to pull over and find a charging station where it can take anywhere from one to three hours to fully charge. Taking a ZEV semi to someplace other than Standish, Unity or Naples? Better make sure it has enough charge to get you home and make sure you account for a 40% reduction in battery if it is one of Maine’s famously cold days.
Another concern is how much product a ZEV truck can carry. A semi-truck, including cargo, has weight limitations depending upon its configuration. The battery alone in a ZEV can weigh 16,000 pounds, significantly reducing the total allowed payload weight. Ultimately, this means less cargo in each load, impacting revenues for Maine trucking companies, many of which already operate on razor-thin margins. It also means more trucks on the road to deliver the same amount of goods to Maine people, more traffic and higher costs for Maine consumers.
We agree with Gov. Janet Mills; Maine should not “blindly” follow California and let “decisions by any other state determine Maine’s course of action.” Instead of the BEP adopting California policy that we don’t think makes sense for our state, let’s allow the market in Maine to evolve and the infrastructure time to get prepared.
There is clearly a place for medium and large ZEV trucks and we believe they will have a meaningful role in decarbonizing the transportation industry. In fact, there are many applications where they already make sense. School districts across the state have been awarded rebates to purchase electric school buses. Short trips around town to bring students to and from school makes sense for this technology. Logistically the buses can charge in between shifts and be ready to go without issue.
We believe there will be unintended consequences if Maine moves forward with the California rule, and these consequences are completely foreseeable and avoidable. The supply chain is not some plaything to tinker with, and we take very seriously how life’s essentials are delivered to our fellow Mainers, how we heat our homes and whether our roads get plowed in the winter.
Electric vehicles are an exciting new technology capable of reducing carbon emissions, Maine is not ready to adopt the California Advanced Clean Trucks rule. That’s why we think it is a bad idea for Maine.