Zero-Emission Commercial Corridors
About Zero-Emission Commercial Corridors
The zero-emission commercial refueling corridor initiative plans for refueling infrastructure that will serve medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicles. This approach is technology-neutral and considers battery electric, hydrogen fuel cell and other alternative fuel technologies. The PNWER RIA will work with Northwest Tribes, legislators and industry leaders to accelerate systems integration of transportation networks with existing and proposed clean energy facilities for the decarbonization of our region’s commercial transportation sector.
Building off of previous zero-emission work
In its first iteration, the PNWER RIA focus included exploring the decarbonization of drayage vehicles operated within the Northwest Seaport Alliance (the ports of Seattle and Tacoma). Through this work, the PNWER RIA became deeply involved in understanding the challenges and barriers involved in making the transition to zero-emission equipment. Learn more about the RIA’s drayage decarbonization work here.
Designing Washington’s commercial vehicle incentive program
In August 2023, the PNWER RIA team was selected by California-based CALSTART to join a project team tasked with designing a zero-emission commercial vehicle incentive program for Washington state. As part of this research, the PNWER team conducted a robust stakeholder engagement strategy across 24 sectors to ensure Washington businesses informed incentive program design. Learn more about the incentive design strategy here.
Expanding our reach
In October 2023, PNWER was awarded a second RIA grant to expand its work — including accelerating freight decarbonization efforts — to all five PNWER states (WA, OR, ID, MT, AK). The PNWER RIA works to identify areas in which a zero-emission charging and refueling network can be integrated into regional supply chains, with a special focus on the region’s major corridors and gateways. This work aligns with the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation’s National Zero-Emission Freight Corridor Strategy released early this year, which identifies Pacific Northwest corridors for zero-emission system deployment. The mission shared by the Joint Office and the PNWER RIA to decarbonize our supply chain positions the Pacific Northwest as an emerging model for decarbonization in the U.S. and throughout North America.
In July 2024, PNWER began work on an innovative cross-border hydrogen analysis project in collaboration with the British Columbia Ministry of Energy, Mines and Low Carbon Innovation’s Clean Energy Major Projects Office, and the Washington State Department of Commerce. The first-of-its-kind study is exploring how British Columbia and Washington state can collaborate in developing and growing the hydrogen economy in their jurisdictions. There is a specific focus on opportunities in relation to the Pacific Northwest Regional Clean Hydrogen Hub (PNWH2), an initiative by the U.S. Department of Energy. Learn more here.
Projects & Initiatives
Umpqua Indian Development Corporation ZEV Commercial Refueling Facilities
The Umpqua Indian Development Corporation (UIDC) has a large truck stop operation in rural Oregon, including an 8-acre property for rest and overnighting for approximately 200 trucks. Located on I-5 on Exit 99, an average of 5,000 medium- and heavy-duty (MHD) trucks pass the truck stop daily. With the help of the consultant team at Indigenous Resilience, LLC, the UIDC successfully received $242,000 from Oregon’s DEQ Zero-Emission Fueling Infrastructure Grant for engineering, utility, cultural and economic studies for the development of EV charging infrastructure for commercial trucks modeled after best practices demonstrated at the one-acre Electric Island pilot. UIDC owns two additional commercial sites off of major I-5 exits, which it aims to develop into future locations for EV charging and/or hydrogen fuel delivery for medium- and heavy-duty trucks.
The PNWER RIA will work with partners throughout Oregon, including Oregon Department of Transportation and Indigenous Resilience, LLC, to analyze funding opportunities to support the deployment of EV charging infrastructure for rural school buses and commercial vehicles.
St. Regis Zero-Emission Refueling and EV Fast Charging Facility
The St. Regis Two River Travel Center provides services and parking for light and heavy-duty vehicles along the I-90 corridor. Approximately 2.5 million visitors travel through St. Regis annually, as it serves as the shortest route to Glacier National Park from the West Coast. The town of St. Regis was selected as part of the Pacific Northwest Hydrogen Hub by the Department of Energy in 2023, which is driving continued efforts to advance St. Regis as a zero-emission refueling center.
The PNWER RIA will support St. Regis and Two River Travel Center in evaluating opportunities for federal and private financing to support the development of zero-emission refueling infrastructure for passenger and commercial vehicles. The PNWER RIA team will collaborate with local partners to determine where infrastructure may overlap to support both the commercial vehicle sector and rural school bus EV charging needs.
Drayage Emission Reduction
To reach Washington state and Northwest Seaport Alliance (NWSA) emission reduction goals, the transition to zero-emission vehicle technologies needs to be accelerated for trucks servicing the ports of Seattle and Tacoma. While ocean-going vessels, locomotives, and cargo handling equipment are all port-related polluters, drayage trucks drive through neighborhoods and idle on city streets, which more directly impacts local populations.
Drayage trucks, which take cargo from ships and drive them to nearby distribution centers or rail depots, are a crucial - yet overlooked - link in northwest supply chains. These trucks are often independently owned and operated by low-income and immigrant drivers who cannot afford newer, cleaner truck models. The NWSA has implemented several programs that incentivize drivers to purchase newer, more efficient trucks, but decarbonizing the supply chain and improving local air quality will require a rapid transition to zero-emission vehicles within the next few years.
The PNWER RIA continues its work to identify financing solutions for zero-emission vehicle and infrastructure acquisition.
MHD Vehicle Decarbonization
In the past few years, Washington state has assumed a leadership position in the national conversation on clean energy stewardship. Developments advanced by the Washington State Legislature to promote cleaner and more sustainable transportation solutions are underway with the 2023 - 25 Transportation Budget that directed the Joint Transportation Committee (JTC) to oversee the design and implementation of an incentive program for medium and heavy-duty zero emission vehicles (MHD ZEVs).
The JTC partnered with zero-emission vehicle accelerator CALSTART, its project team S Curve Strategies, and the PNWER RIA to exercise the study.
The PNWER RIA partnered with the Seattle Latino Metropolitan Chamber of Commerce and Clean and Prosperous Washington to exercise a comprehensive suite of stakeholder review sessions to inform incentive program design. The engagement strategy included focus groups, legislative outreach, one-on-one interviews and a 21-question written survey. Click below to learn more about the study and view the final report.
Systems Integration | Fueling the ZE Network
What is systems integration and why is it important?
The Pacific Northwest’s commercial transportation network contributes sizable measures of greenhouse gasses into our environment. However, the region faces supply, transmission and deployment challenges in the decarbonization of the region’s supply chain. To address this, Build Northwest will:
Pursue resources to integrate a system plan to ensure that sufficient clean power - either electric charging or hydrogen fuel cell - exists along major supply chains to foster the adoption of zero-emission technologies.
Identify multi-state corridors and gateways, such as interstate highways, railroads, ports, warehouse distribution centers and agricultural transload facilities, along which a zero-emission commercial charging and fueling network can be integrated
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