These incentives come from primarily the Eversource and United Illuminating, though there are some incentives from the federal government and a limited incentive Norwich Public Utilities.
PURA (Public Utilities Regulatory Authority) Has Issued a New EV Rate Design for Charging Incentives for customers of Eversource and United Illuminating
For Eversource customers, the company’s Connected Solutions brand will be home to the new program and the old program phased out. The incentive is not offered for the other, smaller utilities operating in the state.
It went into effect as of January 1, 2022. There are subsidies for residential, commercial, municipal, and fleets. These include subsidized charging stations, make ready, discounts on electricity, and demand charge mitigation. These incentives are not retroactive to before 2022. The incentives for charging stations require the purchase of utility approved hardware. The list of approved chargers is subject to change as other makes go through the evaluation pipeline. From what we have been seeing, change happens slowly as there aren’t many approved options for residential. This is the Eversource and UI page for residential equipment and vehicles eligible for telematics. Here is commercial. The approved equipment lists are identical for both UI and Eversource. There are differences in approved telematics-eligible vehicles due to the two EDCs using different vendors. Approved chargers will be smart chargers and taking the subsidy requires enrollment in the managed charging program.
This is top level page about the residential program for Eversource. This is commercial. For UI, this is the residential page and this is commercial.
Both BEVs and PHEVs are eligible.
Residential Single Family Incentives
- Up to $500 incentive for purchase of a smart charging station.
- Up to $500 incentive for bring a 240 volt line to the garage, if needed.
- Owners give the utility permission to see charging data.
- Up to $200 per year for participating in demand-response charging events with a two year commitment.
It is possible to get incentives for a non-networked level 2 charging station that may have been previously installed or even for one that is bought new. In this case the charging information can be obtained either via vehicle telematics (if the vehicle has that capability), or the utility can send a device that will enable a dumb charger to access WiFi. There will be no charge for this device. The utilities will be publishing a list of which vehicles qualify for telematics. (Even though charger upgrade devices, which allow a dumb charger to become connected and handle the managed charging, have been included in the program since the beginning, we are not aware that any such devices have actually been accepted for use in the program.)
A $100 enrollment incentive is offered to people who participate using either telematics or a charger upgrade device.
- An owner buying a new, ineligible charger is not eligible for the hardware subsidy, but is eligible for the installation subsidy.
The managed charging program in year one is limited to a demand response program. EV owners can get up to $200 per year ($50/month over 4 months) for their participation, whether that participation comes via a smart charger, telematics, or upgraded dumb charger. The demand response program is in effect from June 1 through September 30. During high demand periods, the utilities are permitted to reduce the rate of charge going to your vehicle. Your vehicle will charge at roughly the rate of a level 1 charger during these periods. Typically, an event will last up to 3 hours and occur between 3:00 – 9:00 PM. There can be up to 15 events per month. Customers will be notified in advance of these events and be permitted to opt-out. If a customer opts out of 2 or fewer events and is plugged in at least once per month, they still qualify for the $50 monthly incentive. A 2-year commitment is required. Event notifications are to be communicated via smartphone app, web portal, email, or text message, usually the day before the event, but sometimes the day of the event. If you are not home and therefore not plugged in during an event, and have not opted-out, that counts as participation.
If a home does not have enough space in its panel to accommodate an EV charger and wishes to upgrade electric service, that is not subsidized. Service upgrades can run $5000 or more. Before doing that, it may pay to find out how much room you have. If you can’t accommodate a 50 amp unit, maybe you can still do 30 amps and that isn’t a bad compromise. There are some new devices on the market that will share a 240 volt circuit with another appliance, such as a dryer. The IRA includes subsidies for smart panels, which can control your homes electricity usage (i.e. load management) to ensure the amount of service is not exceeded.
An Advanced Managed Charging program will be offered beginning in 2023. Details have not yet been finalized.
Both Eversource and UI permit two incentives per household.
If you use a third-party for your power generation, that does not matter.
People have reported that the enrollment process is cumbersome. That should be fixed at this point.
Both PHEVs and BEVs are eligible.
2023 Update
This awaits final sign-off from PURA. It is expected to go live at some point in February but is not live as of this update (Feb. 6). It is a two-tier program.
Tier One – Basic
The overall incentive remains at $200 but is configured differently. Participants charging during off-peak hours at least 80% of the time would get $10/month. In addition, the demand response (DR) incentive remains but it is reduced from $50 to $20 per month from June through September. Participants can get both incentives. These are discrete periods where the utility declares a DR event (because it is a hot day and power consumption is high). Consumers can opt-out of these events, but there could be incentive reductions if it goes beyond a certain point.
Tier Two – Advanced
Participants work with their utility to set a daily charging schedule and desired state of charge. For example, they might require a fully charged battery by 7 or 8 AM before they leave for work. All charging must occur during off-peak periods. Peak period is 12PM – 8PM on weekdays. Everything else is off-peak. Customers can “opt-out,” meaning charge during peak hours for up to 2 occasions per month and still receive the incentive. The incentive is $25 per month and it applies to all 12 months for $300 annually.
The purpose of this year-round design is planning for the long-term, when there will hopefully be more widespread adoption of heat pumps and electric appliances, and the nature of peak and off-peak will change. Most likely, peak usage will shift to the winter.
Apartments and Condos (a.k.a. MUD or multi-unit dwellings), and Commercial
Incentives are offered for multi-unit dwellings, defined as a minimum of 5 units. These are classified as commercial incentives. Multi-unit buildings of 2-4 units would fall under residential.
- Minimum of 2 ports required.
- Make ready incentives of up to 100% of the cost of bringing power to the location of the chargers. When planning the make ready, it is important to future-proof. You may eventually want more chargers than initially installed.
- Incentives of up to 50% of the cost of the charging station.
- Requires participation in a managed charging program, intended to encourage charging in low-demand periods of the day. This will not be in effect until 2023 as there is not yet an approved plan.
- A leasing option will be available for the chargers, which in this case would be owned by the utility. There will be a buyout option. The leasing plan is expected to be introduced in Q3 of 2022.
- There is a cap of $20,000 of incentives for an installation, which rises to $40,000 for buildings that are within a designated disadvantaged community. The utilities are providing maps to assist in locating whether a particular installation qualifies for the higher cap.
- Demand charge mitigation is available for level 3 chargers. The charges get waived, but it is required that the chargers be separately metered. We are not aware of a mitigation plan for level 2 chargers. It is recommended to ask the utility how this applies to your particular circumstance.
Blog post about these incentives can be found here.
(There are also incentives for public destination chargers, workplace and light-duty fleets, municipalities, and DCFC (Level 3 fast chargers.)
Federal Tax Credit for Residential Level 2 EV Chargers
This tax credit amounts to 30% of the cost for the hardware and installation, capped at $1000. This tax credit has changed beginning in 2023. It is restricted to individuals residing in a distressed or rural community.
The Norwich Public Utilities program includes incentives for chargers
- $1000 for a level 2 residential charger.
- $3000 for a commercial level 2 charger for workplace or multi-family dwelling.
- $4000 for a commercial level 2 charger that is open to the general public and is at a commercial or public location.
The charger part of the program does not have any of the managed charging rules and equipment limitations that are part of the Eversource/UI incentives. In other words, the program is entirely about promoting EV adoption and does not address grid management issues.
One should always check with an accountant to understand any potential tax liability associated with the rebates. This is the page for the program. The page only refers to 2022. We have been advised that the program has been extended to 6/30/23.