Are electric vehicles or equipment that I already own eligible?

Yes! Your existing equipment as well as newly acquired equipment can all be covered in one PineSpire agreement.

Note that If you have forklifts model year 2010 or older, they will have a lower value than more recent equipment. Talk to us about your fleet and we can help refine your value estimate.

Tell Me More About PineSpire’s Guaranteed Rate

PineSpire offers our customers a Guaranteed Rate ($/kWh) for each vehicle class. Our rate stays the same over the entire agreement term, providing our customers security in knowing the value they will earn for their charging. PineSpire takes on the credit pricing risk of LCFS marketplace and mitigates risk through our strategic financial planning built on our expertise in market trading and hedging.

How will the energy use be measured on my electric vehicles or equipment?

PineSpire will work to find the most cost-effective solution for your fleet. Forklifts can be measured using a calculation that PineSpire will tailor to your equipment and operations. For other EVs, PineSpire will install our preferred metering solution on the EV charging devices. See Data and Analytics for more meter information. We will finance any meter installations out of your LCFS Credit proceeds, so there is no out-of-pocket cost to you.

When will I receive LCFS incentive payments?

PineSpire will issue our Guaranteed Rate customers monthly payments and our Market Rate customers quarterly payments.There is an initial registration period of 3 to 6 months, depending on when in the LCFS cycle you enroll, during which we will register all of your eligible electric equipment with CARB and submit your credit generation data. After the initial registration period, your payments will begin. Ultimately, the sooner your vehicles are registered, the sooner we can ensure your energy is generating credits. Note that for tax purposes, LCFS payments from PineSpire are treated like any other revenue to your business and are taxable per your organization’s tax liabilities.

How does the LCFS Market Work? Who buys the Credits?

The LCFS market is relatively complex and benefits from having a specialized partner, like PineSpire, to create, enhance, and monetize your credits in the marketplace. The value of an LCFS credit (in Dollars per Metric Ton of Carbon ($/Mt)) is determined in the marketplace based on supply from credit generators and demand from high-carbon fuel producers. The Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) program, administered by the California Air Resources Board (CARB), is a ‘cap and trade’ style program aimed at lowering the carbon intensity of fuel used in transportation. In a nutshell, the LCFS Regulation sets a carbon target for transportation fuel. Producers of traditional high-carbon fuel (diesel, gasoline, etc.) have a deficit because their fuel does not meet the carbon standard. Users of low-carbon fuel (electric forklifts, e-vehicles]) create credits. The companies with the Deficits buy Credits to bring them into compliance with the required carbon target. 

What types of Fuel sources are eligible?

Electricity is the most commonly used eligible fuel. Electricity can be supplied from the grid, from renewable energy sources (like solar), or even from hydrogen fuel cells.Other fuels, such as biodiesel, renewable diesel, and biomethane are eligible as well. If you have any of these non-conventional fuel types for your equipment, please contact PineSpire for a custom estimate.

What if I need my credits?

Fuel suppliers in the state are the only entities required to attain credits to offset their deficits. Unless your company supplies their own fuel into the state, you should never need to retain credits for your own use. Contact PineSpire directly if you need a custom plan where you expect to supply your own fuel into the state.

How do CARB’s new vehicle emissions regulations affect me?

CARB is continuously evaluating vehicle emissions from an Air Quality perspective as well as for GreenHouse Gas reductions, which means there are new rules being developed that will affect all Electric Vehicles, including Forklifts and Truck Refrigeration Units. While the Air Quality compliance requirements are a separate division of CARB from the LCFS program, many of the compliance solutions can earn you LCFS Credits. PineSpire follows all of CARB’s vehicle proceedings closely so we can help our customers be prepared and capture the cost savings from air-quality compliance as well as the revenue from converting to Electric. Contact us to get the latest details on CARBs rule-makings.

What is PineSpire’s role?

We manage everything from your initial fleet inventory through to ensuring you receive your LCFS incentive payments. Our work includes: inventory, account creation, vehicle registration with CARB, energy use calculations, meter installation, data collection, submitting data to CARB, acquiring and retiring environmental attributes to enhance the value of your LCFS Credits through a derivative marketplace, managing CARB review and documentation requirements, brokering LCFS credits at an aggregated volume, and ensuring payment deliveries to our customer. Additionally, with our Guaranteed Rates, we are managing market risk through financial planning and strategic investments so you can bank on always receiving the same $ per kWh regardless of fluctuations in LCFS Credit prices.