In WRA’s seven-state region, transportation is the second largest source of emissions behind the electric power sector. Our strategies to decarbonize the electric sector and electrify transportation will tackle 66% of the region’s total emissions – making transportation electrification a key strategy in the fight to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.
Aaron Kressig, transportation electrification manager, and Deborah Kapiloff, transportation electrification policy advisor, are leading the way as we navigate the policy work needed to advance the clean transportation movement in the West.
What inspired you to pursue a career in clean energy policy?
DK: Even as a child, I knew I wanted to go into environmental work. My dream job through elementary school was to be a regulator at the EPA. During college in Minnesota, I got more involved with activism, especially the movement against building the Dakota Access and Line 3 pipelines. These experiences cemented in me the need to stop building new fossil fuel infrastructure that would be used for decades and lock in devastating climate change and environmental impacts.
AK: My dad was always very interested in nature, and I spent a lot of time outside growing up. I was in Boy Scouts, and we went on long canoeing trips in Canada, which helped fuel my interest in the environment. I always had a feeling I wanted to do something that was good for the world. After watching An Inconvenient Truth, I knew this was what I wanted to do with my life.
What led you to WRA?
AK: While working in Washington, D.C. after graduate school, I realized how polarized people can be on many issues, and how state-level politics – where decisions are made, and where productive work can be done – was where I wanted to be. So, I moved to Colorado and joined WRA as a flexible grid analyst. Even then, I always found myself drawn to electric vehicles. When I moved to my current role, I was excited to help shape where it was going, especially at a time when the world of zero-emissions vehicles was moving very quickly.
What do you enjoy most about the work you do at WRA?
DK: I enjoy getting to dive into rate and program design to shape utility offerings that make real-world sense for EV drivers and all customers. The most exciting part of my job is seeing the progress utilities are making in creating more sophisticated and better designed programs. Our influence and advocacy are working!
What has been the biggest win that you’ve been part of?
AK: I’m most proud of what we accomplished in 2023. We were able to help secure innovative legislation and utility policy. From getting legislation passed to create incentive programs for zero emission trucks and buses in Nevada to getting the Advanced Clean Trucks and Advanced Clean Cars standards done in Colorado and New Mexico – all while continuing to get critical utility transportation electrification plans approved across the region. This will set us on an EV adoption curve that aligns with what science tells us is necessary to avert the worst impacts of climate change.
What makes you hopeful for the future?
DK: Knowing that a better world is possible! I get excited when I think of a future where our transportation sector is powered by clean electricity and vehicles no longer have a huge greenhouse gas impact or emit harmful air pollutants.
What is next for your team?
AK: After the recent adoption of Clean Cars and Trucks standards in Colorado and New Mexico, we’ll be making sure there is sufficient policy support in place, like vehicle incentives and charging infrastructure, to ensure those ambitious EV adoption targets are met. That means passing state and utility incentives and leveraging federal funding opportunities available this year. I’m also interested in exploring new areas of policy where our states can lead the way, such as exploring how we can create a circular economy for electric vehicle batteries at the end of their lifespan.
DK: I’m looking forward to working on second generation transportation electrification plans. Now that utilities in our region are going through the regulatory process again after implementing their first plans, we have data specific to their service territories on what is and isn’t working. Having that information means WRA can make more specific, tailored recommendations going forward and advocate for even better, more effective plans.
