BC Low-Carbon Fuel Act supports EV charging infrastructure

Electric Mobility Canada welcomes the modernization of British Columbia’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (BC-LCFS) through the recently tabled Bill 15 (Low Carbon Fuels Act). The new Act, which received Royal Assent on June 2, helps clarify the role that fueling with electricity plays in reducing emissions from B.C.’s transportation sector. Once its subsidiary regulations are proposed and published later this year, the Low Carbon Fuel Act will not only support the deployment of critical electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the province, but will also open new opportunities for B.C. businesses and consumers to significantly lower their fuel costs by using clean, made-in-B.C. electric fuel.

By consolidating a decade of learning from B.C.’s world-leading experience in reducing the carbon intensity of fuels, the new legislation renews public certainty about the program’s role as a central element in the provincial climate strategy. Among various positive features, Bill 15 will clarify and expand access to the credit market that is the policy’s beating heart, will support electric vehicle adoption by clarifying credit reporting for providers of electric vehicle charging, and will stimulate new investments in much-needed low-carbon and electric fueling infrastructure. What’s more, by solidifying the province’s market-based approach to decarbonizing transportation, it will promote these outcomes at no cost to the public purse, because credit values emerge through the compliance market, not from government revenues.

Electric vehicle charging delivered more than one-sixth of the of the cumulative greenhouse gas emissions reductions attributable to the BC-LCFS in its first decade, and the BC-LCFS is itself expected to continue as the single largest policy contributor to the province’s CleanBC climate goals. EMC applauds the hard work and progress achieved to date by the Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation, and we look forward to seeing the share of affordable electric energy in B.C.’s transportation system rise to new heights in the coming years. Given the importance of this policy to British Columbia’s climate goals, we also look forward to discussions in the near-term on future program updates to align with the regulatory ambitions laid out by the province in its Roadmap to 2030.