CHARGING STATION OPEN ACCESS

Description:  Adopt legislation similar to California SB 454 (passed in 2013, Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act) requiring clear and unambiguous display of all fees being charged at each charging station and allowing users to pay for a charge using credit or debit cards.

Why This Should Be Supported:  There are at least four major charging station networks operating in Washington each requiring membership in their network in order to use one of their charging stations to charge an electric vehicle.  Charging stations do not always post the fees to charge nor is there a mechanism to allow an electric vehicle owner to obtain a one-time charge using a credit card or other ubiquitous payment option.  This legislation would ensure any electric vehicle owner can charge their vehicle at any public charging station using a credit card and to know what the fees will be prior to charging.

 Options: 

  1. Include ORCA and/or Good to Go payment options.

Estimated State Costs:  The Washington Department of Transportation estimated the costs at $4,200 for the 2013-2015 budget cycle.

Recent Legislative Actions:  HB 2711 Open Access to EV Charging Stations (Attachment #4) was introduced in 2014 by Representatives Habib, Magendanz, Tarleton, Morrell, Berqquist, Freeman, and Muri.  Public hearings were held and it was voted out of committee with a “Do Pass” recommendation.  It never went to the floor for a full vote, although it was expected to pass if it went for a full vote.

Legislative Summary:  For purposes of this bill, publicly available charging space means a charging space that has been designated by the owner or operator of the space to be available to, and accessible by, the public and may include on-street charging stations and charging stations in surface lots or parking garages. However, it does not include the following:

  • A charging space that is part of a private residence;
  • A charging space reserved for exclusive use of an individual driver or for a group of vehicles such as employees, tenants, visitors, residents of a common interest development, or residents of an adjacent building; or
  • A charging space provided by a producer of electric vehicles as a service.

The following terms are also defined: battery, electric vehicle, electric vehicle service equipment, interoperability billing standards, network roaming, and public charging station.

A public charging station that requires users to pay a fee may not require users to pay a subscription fee to use the station and may not require users to obtain a membership in any club or organization as a condition of using the station. The total charge for using the station may include network roaming charges for nonmembers; however, these charges must be disclosed to the public at the point of sale prior to a commitment to pay the charges.

Public charging stations that require the payment of a fee must allow a person to pay via a credit card or mobile technology. A public charging station must display the method for contacting the charging station’s operator to obtain immediate access to charging.

If interoperability standards have not been adopted by a national standards organization within two years of the effective date of this act, WSDOT may adopt such standard or other rules that allow for network roaming payment methods for public charging stations. If WSDOT adopts standards then public charging stations requiring payment must meet those standards within one year from the date of adoption of the WSDOT standards.

The requirements in this act do not apply to the owner or operator of a publicly available charging space whose primary business is other than electric vehicle charging or to any charging station installed before the effective date of this act.