Serving Customers Best: The Benefits of Competitive Electric Vehicle Charging Stations released today

Frank Lacey, along with Bryan Lee, Rob Gramlich and a team from Grid Strategies, LLC were commissioned by the National Association of Convenience Stores (“NACS”) to analyze and report on the benefits of competitive ownership of Electric Vehicle (“EV”) charging stations. The report will be released at 10:00 AM today.  This paper demonstrates that utility ownership is not in the public interest. Through a detailed analysis it clearly explains that regulators and legislators will serve the EV charging public best if they provide for a competitive and nondiscriminatory environment for public charging stations.  Utilities should be prevented from owning charging stations except under situations of extreme need, and only when that need can not be met by the competitive market.  The paper emphasizes that “Regulators should proclaim EV charging to be a competitive service and then focus on policies to support the development of the charging network. Competition in charging will lead to the best results for the build-out of EV charging, for consumer pricing of electricity, and for service of EV drivers. The time to make these policy choices is now, before charging becomes monopolized.”  The paper makes several policy recommendations, including utility divestiture of currently owned charging stations.  The full report can be found HERE.