What started as a complaint to the Iowa Utility Board in July 2018, culminated this past week with the Iowa Utility Board finalizing the rules on publicly accessible electric vehicle chargers. The Iowa Utility Board made clear that a utility cannot regulate EV charging services, including the ability to charge by the kWh, if the EV charger is supplied electricity by the incumbent electric utility provider. See the full order here.
The Board further added that “(i)f an electric vehicle charging station obtains electric power from a source other than the electric utility, the determination of whether the commercial or public electric vehicle charging station is a public utility shall be resolved by the board.” While Iowa Business for Clean Energy, along with several other parties, requested greater clarity and the creation of a safe harbor to address the many situations where an EV charger is on the same meter as solar generated power, the Board declined to adjust their proposed rule.
For most current EV charging installations paired with a solar installation, it is unlikely electric utilities will object to the issue, and highly unlikely the Board would deem such installations as creating a “public utility.” However, expect this issue to be hotly contested in the future as EV charging becomes a bigger part of a business’ electric use and it is paired with distributed energy generation.
