Balancing Act: Florida Should Tread Lightly On EV Charging Regulations

Florida recently began the process of researching a statewide EV charging regulatory platform. Currently, EV charging is subject to national building standards and then local individual preferences regulated at the municipal level (to varying degrees of success or obstruction). Any state-level regulations could/would override current standards of practice.

As the state considers standardizing EV charging regulations, Optimus Energy Solutions urges Florida regulators to use a light touch. Consumers, businesses, and other stakeholders benefit in the absence of regulatory overreach. The EV charging industry already operates within a robust regulatory structure, beholden to the rules and standards of the National Electrical Code (NEC), the National Fire Protection Agency (NFPA), the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) to name a few, which provide significant consumer safety protections. Additionally, it is arguably the most transparent way to fuel a vehicle for consumers as details about fees, times, and restrictions are known in ADVANCE of a consumer ever needing to decide to use a machine/device.

The new standards seek to address issues like the number of chargers allowed at a location, consumer pricing, time-based fee systems, inspection requirements, and site registration.

Number of Chargers

Regulating the number of chargers a site can have is a moot point. People already drive EV’s and are already charging out in the community.  Business owners are unlikely to install too many chargers, crowding out parking for internal combustion customers, and that’s the over-arching theme of my comments: businesses are catering to customers. Let them do so at their risk.

Consumer Pricing

Consumer pricing protections are naturally built into the system already. The price to charge is transparent within networked charger apps. Consumers know the cost to charge hours or even days before they choose to use a charger, giving the consumer ultimate choice. Because electricity is ubiquitous and doesn’t require the same environmental permissions as petroleum, the barriers to entry into the EV charging market are essentially zero, which is an amazing thing for the consumer! If a company installs 10 stations for $1mm of its own money at location X and overcharge, someone will set up next door very quickly at a lower price, but only if regulation is light.

Eliminating Time-Based Fee Systems

One item that is overly troubling for consumers, businesses and investors is that of the discussion to potentially eliminate time-based fee systems. Time-based fees must be allowed. One cannot put a gas pump in their car, leave it there not pumping gas for hours, and be fair to other drivers or the business owner. Similarly, without time-based fees, once a car is fully charged, there is no incentive to move, hurting consumers, investment and jobs.

Inspection Requirements

The state is proposing ongoing inspections for chargers. Inspecting level 2 charging stations for ‘safety’ would be akin to inspecting every publicly available consumer-facing device in the state. Not just the establishment where they are housed, but the actual devices: laundromat dryers as an example. The cost and administrative burden this would place on the state - and thereby taxpayers - should be strongly considered against any perceived safety benefits.

If the state believes level 3 stations need inspecting, we strongly encourage a private provider type model. These stations require specialized tooling to open (often not kept on site), require the presence of an EV to properly test the stations, etc. There are layers upon layers of challenges that a department employee will face just to perform a basic inspection.

Site Registration

Finally, separate state EV charging station registration is ill-conceived. Stations are all publicly visible on innumerable apps that contain real-time, accurate, dynamic information. A static database will only serve to increase state costs with no benefit.

A WAY FORWARD

This is a significant moment for Florida; one that will have far-reaching consequences for businesses and individuals well outside the EV charging industry. Regulatory overreach in the EV charging industry could negatively impact the state’s energy market and overall economy.

 Florida is unique in that it produces essentially zero oil. It does; however, produce the second most electricity in the United States. Our policies should be at worst agnostic towards transportation modality, and at best, encourage us to keep our money here rather than ship it out of state or overseas to support our energy needs. Regulations that make it more onerous to expand the EV charging market and subsequently slow EV adoption don’t make sense in the Sunshine State when considering the local State.

IF the State of Florida chooses to issue rules regarding EV charging infrastructure or the provision of EV charging services, it would be in the best interest of all parties to limit this in scope to the and work toward three primary goals:

1.        Implement only regulations that create a faster, more standardized local permitting process to build out stations.

2.        Remove frivolous and subjective site requirements (i.e. landscape).

3.        Promote freedom of economic activity and consumer choice.

Florida Statute 366.94 is an ideal piece of existing code. It is concise, clear, limited in scope to necessity, and promotes freedom of economic enterprise by establishing guardrails good for consumers and business without public sector costs.

Florida is second in the nation in EV adoption, Orange County, FL has a higher per capita adoption rate for EV’s than the State of CA, and 12% of all new cars sold in Florida are EV’s, all with zero state intervention to support. Layering additional regulation on top of FL Statute 366.94 will unnecessarily hurt private businesses and consumers and result in fewer employment opportunities. Currently, Florida is benefiting from massive investment in EV infrastructure from the private sector. Let’s leave state intervention out of the equation. Let’s not kill our golden goose.