State regulators have rejected a proposal by Unitil to install four sets of fast-charging stations for electric cars in its service area, saying that chargers subsidized by rate-payers would unfairly compete with those set up by private companies.
In the same order, the Public Utilities Commission approved the creation of “time of use” electric rates by Unitil that could encourage owners of electric vehicles to delay charging at home until late at night. Shifting car charging to off-peak hours is often cited as an important method to help the power grid cope with increased demand from electric vehicles.
The decision on time-of-use rates was praised by Sam Evans-Brown of Clean Energy New Hampshire as an important step in transitioning to more electric transportation.
“When (electric vehicles) charge overnight … they sell more electricity using the same grid, which reduces electric rates for everybody,” he pointed out. “Time-of-use rates that encourage people to charge overnight are really important.”
However, Evans-Brown lambasted the rejection of Unitil’s charging station plan, saying it reflected the state’s lagging adoption of technology that, among other things, could hurt tourism business as more people buy electric vehicles, or EVs, and look for charging stations when deciding where to go.
“If you’re a skier you can go to Killington (in Vermont), which has banks and banks of EV chargers, or you can go to Loon, where they have two. Where are you going to go?” said Evans-Brown, who noted that the situation is worse at most other New Hampshire ski areas, which have no public charging stations at all.
“States all around us are investing in this infrastructure proactively,” he said.
The ruling (DE 21-030) by the PUC, handed down May 3, criticized the proposed $2.36 million cost of installing four stations with about six charging stations chargers each. The cost would be recovered from rates paid by Unitil’s 79,000 electricity customers in New Hampshire, but the PUC said the number who own EVs and can benefit from chargers “is small and likely to be among the most affluent of Unitil customers.”
“Furthermore, we note that nearly all EVs are capable of on-board charging, using conventional 110-volt single-phase household current … and that businesses, municipalities and institutions throughout New Hampshire are now offering fast-charging stations at their own cost,” the PUC wrote. Those stations would have to “compete with (Unitil’s) proposed new, subsidized charging stations. … The level of cross-subsidization proposed … is not reasonable or fair.”
Clean-energy advocates have long been dismayed by New Hampshire’s relative lack of car charging, a gap that has been pointed out by the state’s largest utility, Eversource, among others.
Eversource also has a case before the PUC asking for similar approval of which is called “make-ready” spending on some public EV chargers.
“This infrastructure takes a long time to get built. The idea that the private industry will solve this for us is just detached from reality,” he said. “Eventually private investment will cover it but … you have to prime the engine to get it going. It is a very smart investment.”
Depending on private investment to do all the work, Evans-Brown added, makes it more likely that public charging facilities will only be built in higher income areas, where more people own EVs. This can create a “self-reinforcing” gap in access, making it difficult for other groups to take advantage of the technology as it spreads.
