On November 20, 2015, New Hampshire utility Liberty Utilities (Granite State Electric)
Corp. d/b/a Liberty Utilities (Liberty) filed a tariff amendment to permit the resale
of electricity for EVC stations, which the Public Utilities Commission docketed as Docket No. DE 15-489. In a supporting technical statement, Liberty noted tariff language that currently prohibits the resale of electricity by most customers. In Liberty's view, that prohibition forces owners and administrators of charging stations to charge in other manners, such as an hourly flat rate.
Liberty pointed to "eighteen states that have adopted, through regulatory changes or legislation, exceptions for the resale of electricity for electric vehicle charging stations, including Maine and Massachusetts." For example, a 2015 Maine law exempts an electric vehicle charging station provider from being considered a competitive electricity provider, and allows charging station providers to install an electrical submeter and to charge a submeter user only for kilowatt hours used,
On December 18, the Commission took two actions relating to the regulation of electric vehicle charging stations. First, the Commission issued an Order of Notice announcing an investigation into the legal and regulatory issues implicated by the resale of electricity by electric vehicle charging stations. The Commission made participation mandatory for the state's electric distribution utilities, and directed Commission staff to file a
report
by February 26, 2016, setting
forth
its
conclusions
and
recommendations
with
respect
to
the
sale
of
electricity
to,
and
the
resale
of
electricity
by,
EVC
stations. The Commission docketed this investigation as IR15-510.
Liberty pointed to "eighteen states that have adopted, through regulatory changes or legislation, exceptions for the resale of electricity for electric vehicle charging stations, including Maine and Massachusetts." For example, a 2015 Maine law exempts an electric vehicle charging station provider from being considered a competitive electricity provider, and allows charging station providers to install an electrical submeter and to charge a submeter user only for kilowatt hours used,
Second, the Commission issued Order No. 25,852 in the Liberty docket
on December 18, 2015, suspending the Liberty tariff amendment to permit Commission
Staff (Staff) to complete the IR15-510 investigation.
Pursuant to the December 18 Order of Notice, legal memoranda are due from all electric distribution utilities and other interested persons on or before January 22, 2016. Commission staff are scheduled to hold a stakeholder technical session on February 9, 2016.
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