Electric Vehicle Adoption in Montana: Understanding Opportunities and Issues

Nick Shrauger has been driving a hybrid electric vehicle since 2010, and a battery electric vehicle since 2017.  His interest in electric propulsion began when servicing Milwaukee Railroad electric passenger trains in 1952 in Deer Lodge.  He obtained an M.S. degree in electrical engineering at Montana State University and has helped automate hydro generation plants on the Missouri River, and taught NorthWestern Energy grid operators about electric grid systems while helping them become NERC Certified Grid Operators. He also makes hay using biofuel propulsion.

Mr. Flynn has been part of the MDT team since 1994, serving in various capacities throughout the Department.  He has been involved in agency leadership since 2001 and has represented the Department in Legislative committees for the past 12 Legislative Sessions.  Since 2007 he has been serving as MDT Chief Financial Officer, overseeing the agency’s $800 million annual budget and motor fuel tax administration for the State of Montana.  Mr. Flynn holds a Business degree from Montana State University and lives in Helena with his family.

Kyla Maki is an Energy Resource Professional in the Energy Office at the Montana Department of Environmental Quality. She has been with DEQ for six years and in this role focuses on electric vehicle, alternative fuel, and energy planning and policy. Prior to coming to DEQ, Kyla worked in the nonprofit sector on energy policy and advocacy. Kyla has a B.S. in wildlife biology and political science from the University of Montana.

Trevor Graff is the energy research analyst at the Legislative Services Division of the Montana Legislature. He staffs the Energy and Telecommunications Interim Committee, the Senate Energy and Telecommunications Committee, and the House Energy Technology, and Federal Relations Committee. Trevor has served the legislature for 5 years focusing on energy policy. Prior to joining the legislative staff, he worked as a journalist, and communications professional focused on energy and agriculture policy in the Kansas, Wyoming, and North Dakota statehouses. Trevor has a B.S. in Journalism and History from the University of Kansas.

Maureen Bock is ODOT’s Chief Innovation Officer, where she oversees Oregon’s Road Usage Charge Program (OReGO). Maureen has an undergraduate degree in accounting from California State University-Fullerton and her juris doctor from the University of Arkansas. Maureen’s passion is developing new programs based on innovative policies and her background in operations.

Maureen was formerly the ODOT fuels tax manager, where she began to automate the manual methods of collecting millions of dollars in fuels tax revenue. The system is in place today and enhances compliance and administrative capacity.  Maureen left ODOT in 2011 to work with the Oregon Department of Energy, where she redesigned its tax credit programs. She returned to ODOT in 2014 to become the Road Usage Charge Business Implementation Manager. In that role, she used her background in fuels tax and tax administration, as she worked with a team of business and IT professionals, as well as commercial vendors, to design and implement the nation’s first road usage charge system. The system is the first to validate mileage and fuel consumption, and to calculate and collect taxes according to state policies and statutes. She continues to lead the evolution of the OReGO Program, in order to make it a more sustainable, agile and resilient funding mechanism.

David Kack is the Executive Director of the Western Transportation Institute (WTI) at Montana State University-Bozeman, where he also serves as the Director of the Small Urban, Rural and Tribal Center on Mobility (SURTCOM) a Tier I University Transportation Center (UTC). David has twenty years of experience in public transportation coordination, management, and planning, and has worked on numerous projects to develop and improve rural passenger transportation systems, including conducting intercity bus service studies in both Montana and Wyoming. Mr. Kack has helped three communities in Montana start public transportation systems and has an on-going management role with two of those systems.

Neal Ullman is an Energy Resource Professional in the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s Energy Office focusing on Clean Transportation. Working with the State’s portion of the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust and federal funding sources, the Energy Office works with public and private entities to deploy clean transportation alternatives as well as electric vehicle charging stations.