FuSE is headquartered in Sacramento CA with offices also located in British Columbia, Canada. We currently service any businesses located in states or territories with active clean fuel programs. In the United States these include California, Oregon, and Washington. In Canada this includes British Columbia, and Canada on the national level.
We are one of the most active stakeholders in the LCFS, CFP, CFS, BC-LCFS, and CFR regulatory proceedings and have exceptional working relationships with the staff and management of all relevant programs. Working with FuSE means you’ll have a seat at the table at all future workshops and working groups that may influence your credit generation capabilities.
There’s no catch. Low-carbon fuel standards are an ingenious and proven successful way to leverage funds from large oil firms and invest in newer, greener fuel technologies, without the need for public funding. These programs are meant to reward upfront investment in clean fuels, especially electrification, even if part of that investment has already occurred. Continued expansion of low-carbon fuels is the ultimate goal, and over the lifetime of the clean fuel programs, it is working.
Transparency is key both in the administration of a comprehensive clean fuel program, as well as in any efficient fleet operation. Fleets housed across multiple locations or facilities present unique challenges, and without proper tools such as software to consolidate equipment data, there is an increased chance of missing crucial reporting deadlines and accuracy requirements. FuSE provides a complete SaaS solution via each partner’s portal. There, users can access fleet and incentive payment data broken out by registered facility, view quarterly energy consumption, and gain insight into equipment specs on a per unit basis, and find a host of other useful tools.
Seasonality and pausing operations are a common practice with many of our partners. As credit generation is directly correlated to the energy consumed on-site for any particular quarter, FuSE will work with your team to make sure we are appropriately accounting for any period of time where electrical energy used as a transportation fuel is not being consumed. We work diligently to make sure the data being reported to the agencies is accurate and representative of your operations.
Nothing, as participating for electric fleets is voluntary. However, if you don’t opt-in your vehicles or equipment, you may miss out on a significant new financial tool. Once a reporting window has passed, there can be no retroactive credit generation. The sooner you opt in, the more you can earn over time.
Minimal. Once we have the fleet data and energy consumption access (i.e. from a cloud-connected account), there's not much more for you to do with the exception of confirming your data regularly and ensuring your fleet in FuSE is accurate. FuSE will handle the rest.
If you're already enrolled, program participation should come at no upfront cost to you and you should always know the commission and fee structure you’ve contracted for. The total returned value will vary depending on your energy consumption and the credit market current pricing, so commissions should be within reason for the services rendered.
FuSE’s industry-leading cost structure is transparent, effective, and most importantly, driven with your interests in mind. Made easier with our software-based automated systems, we strive to take the headache out of a burdensome process and pass the savings on to you. Please contact us to get more details on our fee structures.
FuSE’s mission is to ensure that low-carbon fuel standard programs are accessible and affordable to all. We are always happy to provide a free blind estimate with data you’re currently providing to ensure you’re maximizing the value of the program. We rely heavily on education and transparency to make sure that clean fuel standard programs are healthy and continue expanding across the continent.
FuSE uses a technology-forward SaaS approach to ensure accuracy and efficiency for all of our partners. In addition to being located in Sacramento and Vancouver, BC and involved in all manner of regulatory proceedings, we have significant public-funding experience, whether through energy and air agencies, local air districts, local utilities or many others.
Deciding to electrify is a big choice with a lot of moving parts and we’re happy to help educate on existing opportunities outside of your local low-carbon fuel standard program.
Depending on the program, the minimum frequency of data confirmation will be either once per quarter (for the US programs) or once per year (for the Canadian programs), though we prefer to collect data much more frequently. This can be supported by sharing access to cloud-based telematic systems, API integrations, or other methods.
FuSE’s turn-key approach to participation and smooth onboarding process ensures we collect all relevant information to maximize your credit generation and earning potential. Our SaaS tools and expert team make regular check-ins and data confirmations a breeze to ensure what is reported to relevant agencies is accurate.
The purchase of renewable, zero-emission electricity increases the total quantity of credits generated by 25-35%. Depending on current market conditions of REC costs and low-carbon fuel standard prices, there may be a net-financial benefit, as the cost of procuring zero-emission electricity (via the Renewable Fuel Standard program) is less than the additional proceeds from extra credit generation. This process is called “book and claim” and FuSE handles this all for you, free of charge. There is an added benefit in that the electricity used to charge/run your fleet is now operating with zero-emissions, enabling to be counted against any internal sustainability initiatives, goals, or scoping. Note that not all programs currently support book-and-claim accounting.
If you work with a third party to help facilitate your LCFS participation, you will likely enter a “designator/designee” relationship, as defined by the local agency administering your program. These entities, like FuSE, are sometimes known as "Aggregators." This means all quarterly and annual reporting, as well as any obligation to correctly calculate energy consumption and ensure proper data collection will fall on the third party. Having confidence in their ability to properly onboard, analyze, track, and regularly update information about your fleet and operations is of significant importance.
By intent, FuSE contracts and makes clear that we are the legally responsible entity for supplying accurate information on your behalf. We feel strongly about our tools and systems to help ensure data and calculation accuracy, and we make this information available to you in real-time in your FuSE portal.
No, you do not need to own the building to participate in your local low-carbon fuel standard. The first-right of refusal for credit generation depends on the specific equipment category and jurisdiction, but typically goes toward the owner or operator of the charging equipment. The intent of these programs is to financially incentivize those making procurement decisions to select more environmentally-friendly equipment vs. their ICE counterparts.
Yes, a company could enroll themselves in their local program, but it may not make financial sense to do so. Administrative overhead may also significantly increase the cost of enrolling. Companies benefit through using FuSE because of economies of scale. For context, the vast majority of participants in the electricity provisions use third parties like FuSE to manage their successful participation.
The use of a zero-carbon electricity source for fleet charging by way of purchasing and retiring REC’s (i.e. book-and-claim) results in significant additional credit generation. Depending on current REC costs and credit sale price, buying and retiring REC’s can be a great way to both increase your net profits (the cost of RECs are outweighed by the additional resulting credit generation) as well as support green initiatives within your company.
In California, FuSE has zero-CI pathways approved with CARB, a required prerequisite to be able to leverage the financial benefits of REC retirement, and we manage a zero-CI pathway for all of our partners, resulting in optimized credit generation.
FSE stands for “Fuel Supply Equipment” which is how agencies track data submission across equipment categories. For on-road vehicle equipment categories, the FSE is the individual vehicle charger. For other categories, such as eCHE, eMHE, and eTRU’s, the FSE can be defined as the facility or location where charging occurs. Data is submitted on a per-FSE basis.
Different jurisdictions have differing opinions and levels of sophistication related to what vehicle and equipment types are eligible within their own program. Broadly, all on-road assets are eligible, Class 1-8, with much more potentially available including:
Contact us with any eligibility questions about your fleet eligibility.
Because these programs are currently delineated/administered on a jurisdiction level, moving facilities and/or equipment within the same program jurisdiction will not affect credit generation, though there will be additional registration/de-registration steps that FuSE will manage.
All low-carbon fuel standard markets operate on a supply and demand mechanic subject to many influencing factors including: fossil fuel consumption volumes, new biofuel project deployment, regulatory proceedings and outlook, electrical energy consumption and prices, and many others.
Please see our Credit Prices page for recent credit values in each market.
Low-carbon fuel standards operate as an open market, where credit generators contract and sell credits directly to regulated entities like oil producers, importers, and blenders. Funds to support electrification efforts come directly from these entities to FuSE and are distributed to our partners. These are NOT public funds/tax dollars and can be stacked with other publicly-funded incentive programs you may already be receiving.
FuSE operates entirely on a net-back model, meaning we retain a percentage of the net proceeds from the credit sale without any fees or upfront costs to you. There are no minimum quantities or other service fees.
Ideally, we would use energy consumption data specific to your operations. However, this is not usually readily available so if needed we can use spec sheets, duty cycle information, and industry standards to back calculate the energy consumption at your facility. That’s all we need to estimate your incentive return for the current reporting quarter.
While significant, low-carbon fuel standard programs are only a piece of the puzzle when moving toward a zero-emission fleet profile. Infrastructure plays a major role in total cost of ownership calculations, as does the deployment of newer zero-emission technologies found in qualified equipment such as eTRU’s, cargo handling equipment, drayage trucks, and on-road light and heavy-duty vehicles.
In addition to the low-carbon fuel standard programs, eMC has substantial experience in leveraging other funding programs, including utility infrastructure programs and rebates (SCE Charge Ready Transport, PG&E EV Fleet, etc.), as well being well-versed in voucher programs among others. A variety of these may be highly-applicable to your interests and should be an integral part of any zero-emission deployment.
Good question and a common misconception. Functionally, the idea of low carbon fuel programs is less about increasing the cost of compliance of regulated parties, and more about providing funds and incentive (paid from the regulated parties, not the state) to bring down the cost of low carbon fuel alternatives so to make it easier on fleet operators/procurement managers to select low-carbon equipment. These programs have proven to be an exceptionally effective means to decrease the carbon intensity of local transportation fuel mixes all over the world.
To clarify, “Residential EV” credits are awarded to the local utility. This is because the state wants to incentive utilities to help facilitate residential charging. Within the “Non-residential” categories, the same may apply, however, if the commercial fleet opts in, they are given priority over the local utility. The state wants fleet operators, who make equipment procurement decisions, to be incentivized financially through the low-carbon fuel standards to continue deploying zero-emission battery-electric equipment.
The WAIRE program is specific to the South Coast Air Quality Management District and not related to LCFS. Funds from other state sources (HVIP & CORE) can NOT be used to buy equipment and buy “WAIRE points,” however, LCFS funds can.
While low carbon fuel programs are only currently active in some geographies (CA, OR, WA, BC, Canada), the success and effectiveness of these market-based tools have garnered a lot of attention. Many states in the US are working through legislative processes to adopt their own versions, or in some cases, entirely mirror the programs in CA, OR, and WA. Canada federally implemented a program in 2023, and efforts to develop a federal program here in the US is underway. Additionally, even if your headquarters are located in another state, you may still be eligible if you have operations within an active state.
All transportation fuels are apart of the program, including gasoline and diesel (deficit generators) as well as low-carbon fuels such as renewable fuels, biofuels, and electricity (credit generators). FuSE works with companies and fleets utilizing electricity as a fuel source as we promote the transportation economy electrifying over the decades to come.
The short answer is no. For liquid fuels, the manufacturer of the fuel typically is the first fuel-reporting entity and credit generator, and as such, manufacturers of E85 receive LCFS credits.
Yes and no. FuSE manages “book and claim” processes for you, which means we will procure zero-emission electricity for your entire fleet whether or not you have solar on site, resulting in a net-positive financial gain (the cost of zero-emission electricity is outweighed by the additional credit generation from your local program). However, if you have qualified solar assets on site we can help facilitate additional revenue generation from REC creation within your local RPS program.
Good question and a common misconception. Functionally, the idea of low carbon fuel programs is less about increasing the cost of compliance of regulated parties, and more about providing funds and incentive (paid from the regulated parties, not the state) to bring down the cost of low carbon fuel alternatives so to make it easier on fleet operators/procurement managers to select low-carbon equipment. These programs have proven to be an exceptionally effective means to decrease the carbon intensity of local transportation fuel mixes all over the world.