Dive Brief:

• Pacific Gas & Electric's revised plan, filed in March, to install thousands of electric vehicle charging stations in its northern California territory continues to bedevil the EV industry, which has now floated an alternative proposal to protect third-party market participants’ ability to offer creative charging solutions, Greentech Media reports. 
• PG&E initially proposed building 25,000 charging stations, but has since scaled back its plan to 7,500. However, because it requires EV stations to use a time-of-use rate, the industry says it shuts out some business models and is as untenable as the original proposal.
• An industry-backed plan would scale back PG&E's charging station proposal, as well as ensuring the charge site host can determine the rate structure and amount drivers will be charged.

Dive Insight:

Last year, in response to a decision by the California Public Utilities Commission to allow utilities to invest in EV charging infrastructure, all three of the major investor-owned providers floated charging station proposals. Two gained support fairly quickly, but PG&E's proposal has received criticism for its size, as well as restrictions on rate structures that the industry says will lock out some companies from participating.

Now, several parties have floated an alternate proposal that has support from the Office of Ratepayer Advocate, The Utility Reform Network and the industry, including the Electric Vehicle Charging Association, ChargePoint and Vote Solar. The groups want to limit PG&E's EV plan to 2,500 stations—a tenth of the utility's original proposal—as well as ensure providers with innovative proposals will be able to participate.

"The commission should direct PG&E to establish an open and unconstrained process for site hosts to choose equipment and network services," ORA said in a filing. "At all sites, the site host
will be PG&E’s customer of record. ... The site host may determine the rate structure and amount
charged to drivers for EV charging services, subject to the obligation to implement a load management plan reflecting best practices. 

PG&E's proposal to mandate time-of-use rates would lock out some companies, and would wind up costing customers more, they say.

Greentech Media uses Volta as an example in their coverage of the new proposal. The fledging company wants to install charging stations with local partners that would be free to customers, drawing them in to local businesses and using the stations to offer advertising. "It’s free to the site host, and it’s free to the users,” Vice President of Government Affairs Abdellah Cherkaoui told GTM.

Because about 20% of the country's electric vehicles are owned in Northern California, the industry is wary of a precedent-setting plan that could limit the market in other regions. EVCA spokesman Damon Conklin told GTM, “It will set an example, a very dangerous precedent, for many other states that have adopted EV programs, and inform policies in other states."

In addition to cutting the number of charging stations in PG&E's proposal, the groups also want to limit the utility's spending to about $87 million, compared to its $160 million revised proposal.

Both Southern California Edison and San Diego Gas & Electric have already had their plans approved. SCE's plan calls for 1,500 charging stations while SDG&E will install 3,500 stations.