Northwestern Energy is beginning the process of adding electric vehicles to their service fleet and corporate use. Northwestern CEO Bob Rowe said with the advances to electric vehicle technology and the price drops make this the right time to make the transition to electric. Tom Glanzer with Northwestern said they have some vehicles in use already and Northwestern will slowly convert the company fleet.
Glanzer said customers with notice a difference with some of the service vehicles but before acquiring more they will need to assure that the vehicles work well.
Northwestern will be replacing vehicles at the end of their life with electric alternatives starting mainly next year. Glanzer talks about the target goal for transition to electric vehicles.
He said one of the concerns is the current limited charging station availability but plans are being made to address that as well.
Northwestern Energy is making investments in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Montana and South Dakota service territories. Their current service fleet has two electric power take off bucket trucks. One in use in Billings, Montana and the other in Huron.