Patrick DeCorla-Souza | Federal Highway Administration

Social Media Handle: 

Presentation Description

Publicly funded programs provide financial support for public electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in locations where they may not be commercially viable. Examples are USDOT’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) and Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) programs, as well as other State and local funding programs. The Federal goal is to support the creation of a nationwide network of 500,000 public EV chargers by 2030 in order the encourage the adoption of electric vehicles by consumers.

P3s and performance-based contracts, with their potential to leverage private financing and expertise and ensure greater value for money, offer promising solutions. However, these contract approaches must be adapted to the unique challenges of the EV market. FHWA has developed informational materials, decision tools, and a training course to support states and communities in navigating the evolving landscape of EVCI development.

To support the decision-making process for EVCI P3 project delivery by state and local governments, FHWA developed the EVCI-Financial Analysis Spreadsheet Tool (EVCI-FAST). The tool assists in assessing the financial viability of an EVCI P3 project. This includes the potential range of public subsidies required and potential benefits from revenue sharing with the public agency if the EVCI P3 project can generate surplus revenues.

This presentation will demonstrate use of EVCI-FAST. We conducted a high-level screening analysis to assess the financial viability of delivery of electric vehicle charging infrastructure (EVCI) using alternative public-private partnership (P3) structures. The methodology will be demonstrated for a prototypical charging station. Three alternative P3 structures are evaluated: (1) A grant-based structure typical of Federal-aid projects which reimburse a portion of eligible project costs at a pre-determined percentage level throughout the implementation and operations phases; (2) A hybrid availability payment/ revenue risk P3 structure with government-funded availability payments that begin after the start of the operations phase; and (3) A minimum revenue guarantee (MRG) structure with government payments made only if revenues are below minimum targets for gross revenue.

The demonstration suggests that EVCI-FAST could assist public agencies in deciding whether they should move forward with a P3 for EVCI by determining whether their budgetary resources are adequate to support financial viability. EVCI-FAST could also assist in determining which P3 structuring option would best meet their objectives. The results from analysis of the prototypical project evaluated suggest that public agencies could benefit considerably from a P3 structure that uses a minimum revenue guarantee to compensate the private partner.

Speaker Biography

Patrick DeCorla-Souza serves as the Public-Private Partnerships (P3) Program Manager for the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and USDOT’s Build America Bureau. Over the past decade, he oversaw development of FHWA’s P3 Toolkit which is available on FHWA’s website. He currently provides training in use of P3s for delivery of highway projects and electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Patrick previously served as Program Manager of the FHWA’s Value Pricing Pilot Program, assisting in implementation of congestion pricing projects throughout the U.S., including High-Occupancy Toll lanes. He is a former co-chair of the TRB Congestion Pricing Committee and former member of the TRB Economics and Finance Committee. Patrick has master’s degrees in Transportation Planning from Florida State University and in Civil Engineering from the University of Toledo (Ohio).

Co-presenters

Michael Lawrence
Jack Faucette Associates, Inc

Mahir Hossain
RCF, Economic and Financial Consulting

Presentation File