Wisconsin’s public utility companies are now pressuring members of the Wisconsin legislature to pass a bill that would expand their control over EV chargers in the Badger State. According to Energy News Network, the bill was supposed to expand EV charging infrastructure by confirming that private businesses can sell electricity to drivers at charging stations.
But amendments sponsored by the utility companies would ban government entities from owning or leasing EV chargers and would allow stations to charge for electricity only if it comes from the utility companies and not from privately owned onsite solar installations.
The position of many utility companies is clear. “It’s our electricity, damn it and we will decide how it is made and distributed, and how much people will pay for it!” Their attitude is that when Moses came down from the mountain, he brought with him written instructions from God that guaranteed utility companies would never, ever face competition. It’s it the Bible, or the Constitution, or someplace.
Clean energy proponents, including Renew Wisconsin, now say they want governor Tony Evers to veto the bill if it passes the legislature with those provisions intact. Scores of private businesses in Wisconsin currently own EV chargers and bill customers for the energy. But there are fears opposition by utility companies could shut them down at any moment, especially if they decide to build their own charging networks.
The situation has much in common with the state’s longstanding concerns about third party owned solar installations. Utilities have argued such arrangements infringe on their exclusive rights to deliver power to customers, hence third party solar is essentially impossible in Wisconsin even though no law bans it. A bill currently before lawmakers would clarify that third party solar ownership is legal and another bill would facilitate community solar with third party ownership.
“All three bills have this thread of the utilities wants to make sure nobody can sell any kind of electricity in any form,” said Jim Boullion, government affairs director of Renew Wisconsin. He noted that at least 34 states have laws specifically differentiating EV charging from utility service, while only five states — Iowa, Kansas, North Dakota, South Carolina, and Virginia — have adopted policies restricting EV charging station ownership except by utilities.
“We’re talking about a different industry than the ‘obligation to serve’ that the utilities have. They’re now expanding into transportation fuels. We think the regulatory system is good and we need it, but the way things are changing in the world, having these strict limits is really hampering the growth of this clean affordable energy source. There has to be some flexibility in the model we’ve had for 120 years to acknowledge this new technology,” Boullion says.
The Rural Vs Urban EV Chargers
The bill with the amendments attached would prohibit cities and towns from building charging stations that EV customers pay for in …….
Source: https://cleantechnica.com/2022/02/15/wisconsin-utilities-fight-to-outlaw-solar-powered-ev-chargers/