Beyond the human suffering, Russia’s invasion of Ukraine provides the latest example of why transportation electrification must be a priority for global economies. The war’s disruption of global energy markets shows how important a strengthened, cleaner electric grid is to both clean energy and energy security, with the widespread adoption of electric vehicles as one component of that ongoing transition.

“An essential component of transportation electrification is the fact that electricity in the United States is nearly 100% domestically sourced, the benefits of which have become particularly salient over just the last several weeks,” said Pedro Pizarro, president and CEO of Edison International at the prestigious CERAWeek energy conference in Houston this month.

Pizarro explained how Southern California Edison is working to accelerate the development of clean energy without compromising reliability and affordability.

“We see the total energy bill, electricity, plus gasoline, plus natural gas, going down by a third by 2045 because electric motors, electric appliances are so much more efficient. That creates an added bonus of not just doing something for the climate but having it be impactful in a positive way for the customer wallet,” Pizarro said.

Another key component of a transformed electric grid will be battery storage capacity, which SCE is deploying rapidly.

“We created a project — to bring online a billion dollars worth of batteries (537 megawatts) at three substations that will be owned by our utility that will be online by August 1st of this year,” Pizarro said.

During a panel titled, “Charging Fast! Electrifying America’s Highways,” Pizarro discussed another benefit of transportation electrification: the accelerated progress in removing emissions from communities disproportionately exposed to air quality issues.

“There’s potential legislation out there where the federal government is offering $4,000 in tax credits for used EVs under $25,000,” said Calvin Butler, senior executive vice president and chief operating officer at Exelon Corp. “This has an equity component. Now you’re broadening the base of those who can afford it and the impact it can have on those communities.”

Pizarro expressed support for that idea, as it would enhance an existing SCE program offering $4,000 to income-qualified customers who lease or purchase a pre-owned EV.

CERAWeek brings together global leaders annually to discuss solutions to the biggest challenges facing energy and the environment. Recently, the conference has attracted more participants from the automobile, manufacturing, technology and other industries, which Pizarro says must join the utility and energy sectors in creating clean energy solutions.

“This really needs to be about getting getting the economy to net-zero (carbon emissions) and doing it most affordably. That means we need to optimize economy-wide, not just in a single sector,” Pizarro said.

Looking ahead, Pizarro discussed SCE’s first-in-the-industry plan to file a Climate Adaptation and Vulnerability Assessment with the California Public Utilities Commission in May.

“What does the global climate model data say about what’s going to be happening in our territory over the next several decades? I saw the analysis recently, and it’s sobering,” Pizarro said. “It’s not just extreme wildfire risk, it’s extreme heat, it’s drought and floods.”

“We are living that at Southern California Edison. Because of the wildfire issue, we’ve had to pivot our investments over the past four years. On average each year, we spend around $5 billion on capital and at least one billion of that has been for hardening our wires for the wildfire issue,” Pizarro said.

This year alone, SCE is projected to spend $1.6 billion on wildfire mitigation efforts, which will lead to continued improvements in electric grid resiliency.