Discord over regulation of EV charging

CPUC EV charging rules will shape California's electric grid integration of battery-powered cars, overseeing EV infrastructure, charging stations, third-party providers, and load management as investor-owned utilities debate oversight of Better Place and Coulomb Technologies.

With electric cars set to hit the mass market next year, a skirmish is breaking out in California over who will control the state’s electric vehicle infrastructure.

The California Public Utilities Commission will write the rules of the electric road and is just starting to grapple with the complex regulatory issues surrounding the integration of battery-powered cars into the state’s electrical grid infrastructure.

One of the biggest questions is whether to regulate Better Place, Coulomb Technologies and other companies that plan to sell electricity to drivers through a network of battery-charging stations, and how to handle control over charging policies.

California’s three big investor-owned utilities have split over the issue, even as the state is poised for accelerated EV adoption in coming years.

“The commission should establish its authority to regulate third-party providers of electricity for electric vehicles,” Christopher Warner, an attorney for Pacific Gas & Electric, wrote in a filing with the utilities commission. “Managing the increased electricity consumption and load attributable to electric vehicles in order to avoid adverse impacts on the safety and reliability of the electric grid may be one of the most difficult management challenges that electric utilities will face.”

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