Local Electric Company wants EV owners to pay for upgrading neighborhood infrastructure.

[ewoodrick]

No question that there are limits and as I said in my post, for new construction, the utilities definitely need to be involved so they can plan for the increased usage.

I think what has everyone flustered is that in your examples above, the costs of those expansions were born by everyone in the community. In the OP's case, they are forcing system-level updates on single users. That is not how it's supposed to work. In your sewage example above, it would be like making a person who is doing a remodel and adding a laundry room sink pay to upgrade the pipes from their house all the way to the treatment plant; whereas everyone who had already done remodel/expansions up until that point didn't have to pay. That is nuts.

Similarly, I added two 14-50s many years ago. It wouldn't be fair if my neighbor wanted to add an EV and they made them pay to upgrade the wires for the whole street.

I just went back and reread the OP posts. It really doesn't even appear that they have talked to the utility, just read things.
It also appears that the $4000-$5000 that they posted was made-up. (Why would the utility quote a lower number?)
I'm not sure if the OP has even checked to see if permits are needed or even applied for one.

I feel that there is much ado about nothing here. It could be something as simple as a $10 surcharge

 

[enemji]

Eugene Water and Electric Board>

Eugene Water and Electric Board. I had all of the information from EWEB, deleted it last week. I will be be getting that info. again in the next few days. It is all true that an EV customer , according to EWEB, is liable for the costs of a neighborhood upgrade in service when the "strain" (my words) on the system becomes apparent.

Next they will be asking overweight passengers to pay 25-100% more for seat on the airplane

 

[RSpanner]

Letter I sent to the Eugene Water and Electric Board:
I am an EWEB customer in Ward 2, an electric vehicle owner, and a member of the local Emerald Valley EV association.f I installed an EV charger at my home years ago, I think before EWEB had its rebate program (or at least I didn’t know about or benefit from the program). However, in talking with new EV owners I have discovered that EWEB has an arbitrary and punitive policy that sometimes strikes individuals who install EV chargers in their own homes. I am hoping that you and other commissioners will revise the policy to make it more logical, fair, and consistent with EWEB’s goals.

Apparently EWEB has a policy (and perhaps has long had such a policy) that customers connecting new loads to the system should contact EWEB with information about the load, and if EWEB determines that it might overload existing infrastructure than the customer will be responsible for the necessary system upgrades.

I can see how such a policy might make sense for a large industrial customer. However, this policy is now being applied for homeowners installing a Level 2 EV charger at their home. These Level 2 chargers are connected to 240-volt power with a range of amperages, but are not much different in impact than hooking up an electric clothes dryer or an electric cooking range. However, unlike someone installing any other electric device, EV owners applying for a rebate are directed to contact EWEB’s Distribution Engineering staff with information about the charger being installed, and if the staff feels that a neighborhood upgrade is necessary, that individual homeowner is billed the entire cost. I was told it could be up to $4000.

There are many problems with the implementation of this policy at the household level.

Most significantly, the extra cost only applies to the person unlucky enough to be the last to install an electric appliance that pushes the entire neighborhood over the threshold. All of his or her neighbors may have been adding hot tubs, EV chargers, and/or switching from gas to electric appliances, and more for years, but the one poor person whose additional use pushes the entire system over the edge gets billed for the entire upgrade.

At the household level, this policy is only operationalized for installers of EV chargers who want to take advantage of the EWEB rebate. They are the only ones asked at the time of rebate application to contact Distribution Engineering staff first. If someone installs a hot tub, there is no prompt to talk to EWEB first, so they will just do it and EWEB likely won’t be able to figure out where the additional small load came from. If someone installs an EV charger but doesn’t know about or take advantage of the rebate, they
don’t know to contact EWEB either. Even if someone is installing a heat pump or heat pump water heater to replace their gas appliance and applying for an EWEB rebate, there is no instruction on the application to contact EWEB about capacity issues first. What about the person who buys a new high-powered table saw and installs a 240-volt outlet in their garage to operate it? The list goes on. Only installers of EV charging equipment seem to be targeted, and it seems unlikely that EWEB would go after a lot of these other common household installations.

EWEB has been a wonderful supporter of transportation electrification in Eugene, and household electrification generally. The risk of incurring exorbitant costs for installing charging equipment will discourage some EWEB customers from embracing electrification. I have already spoken with some potential EV owners who are daunted by hearing stories of people hit with

unexpected bills for thousands of dollars. If the policy were consistently applied to those installing electric ranges, heat pumps, heat pump water heaters, etc. it might well have a chilling effect on those customers too. The application of this policy to households is inconsistent with EWEB’s own support for electrification.

I don’t think this policy was ever intended to apply to individual households. Everyone in a neighborhood is responsible for increasing loads on the system. No one person should be held responsible for upgrading the entire system. As more people switch to electric transportation, there is a need to make sure EWEB’s electric grid can support the increased demand for power. But the same goes for all other household electrical upgrades. The cost of improving the system at the household level should be part of the general rate structure.

 

[ewoodrick]

So why see if they would let you when you can hit them full frontal and make them say no?

I decided to go look at their tariffs. Didn't really see the normal stuff, but the looked around.

It appears that they have a VERY POSITIVE EV program!

One of the worst statements I found was

EWEB has much to handle related to EV charging infrastructure. To ensure that the switch from gasoline-powered vehicles to electric vehicles reduces the most emissions possible at the lowest cost possible, we need to implement managed EV charging. Most of the time, this will mean charging your EV overnight between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m. so it can charge when demand for electricity is lowest.

And some of the best were

Locally, EWEB offers customers a $500 rebate for a home charging station. At the state level, Oregonians were able to get a rebate of up to $7,500 from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality for a new EV, depending on their income. But that program was suspended starting May 1 because demand outstripped funds. The federal government, however, still offers a tax credit worth up to $7,500 for a new EV or $4,000 for a used EV due to passage of the Inflation Reduction Act. The incentive for used EVs is the first ever.

The need for upgrades will rise gradually, and EWEB is assessing and preparing for it. Upgrades will be focused on specific geographic areas where demand is rising or is likely to rise. Regulations and equity considerations may also prompt upgrades. Initially, EWEB will need to upgrade equipment closest to the customer, such as taps at individual houses or transformers that serve clusters of houses. Later on, feeders that serve multiple transformers or substations that serve whole neighborhoods may need upgrading.

Smart meters that allows EWEB to understand how electricity demand fluctuates in real time and in specific areas will help EWEB develop programs that can mitigate peaks in demand – allowing EWEB to avoid costly infrastructure upgrades.

“Customers can help us plan equipment upgrades and reduce overall costs by proactively reaching out to us before you install an EV charger or other piece of equipment that could cause a big increase in demand,” Nice added. “Working together, we can create a plan that meets your needs while we pursue a resilient future together.”