We have been following up with the utilities on some of the outstanding questions. These are some specific items that came up at the meeting where the information was not available or incomplete. These are a few items for which we have answers.

Plug-in Hybrids

Plug-in Hybrids are eligible! At the meeting we were told that is not the case. That correction has been provided to us.

Third Party Power Supplier

It does not matter who your power generation supplier is.

Number of Incentives Per Household

Our club has a lot of multi-EV households. Each household can sign up for a maximum of 2 incentives. At the meeting, it was said that Eversource had a limit of one, but we confirmed with Eversource that 2 incentives are permitted, the same as with UI.

Make-Ready

Make-Ready is a commercial incentive that is sometimes described as bringing power to the pad or the base upon which the charging unit will be installed. The incentive includes the cost of wiring up the charging unit.

Telematics

Telematics is where the utility communicates directly with the vehicle. It is a way for people who already own a charger, which is not an eligible smart charger to participate, IF you have a vehicle that has telematics capability. Many, though not all Teslas, have telematics. There are non-Tesla EVs that also have telematics. This page includes telematics-eligible vehicles for Eversource. There could be a slightly different list for UI as the companies use different external vendors to manage this aspect of the program.

We have received feedback that it is difficult to sign up for telematics. The registration funnel on the website is confusing. We have sent detailed feedback on this subject to the utilities and await their response.

Taxes

If you are requesting incentives with a value of more than $600, you will be required to upload a completed IRS form W-9.

We have a March 4 call scheduled with them. We don’t know if we’ll hear anything sooner. If you have anything you’d like for us to ask, or if you have gone through the application process and have comments, please mention it as a comment to the post or email the club at EVClubCT@gmail.com.

CT PURA EV Club of CT 012522 (1)

Post by Barry Kresch

MUD

It stands for multi-unit dwellings. According to the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) adjudication, about 10% of Connecticut residents call this type of dwelling home. These are mostly in the cities, which have the worst air quality and the worst access to charging, but also an opportunity for clustered charging installations (EVSE) to drive efficient utilization.

The program outlined here is for level 2 chargers. The definition of an MUD is a building with a minimum of 5 units. (There is a different set of rules for buildings with 2-4 units.)

Make Ready

One of the big challenges is to get the necessary power to the charging station and this is addressed by what is known as “make ready.” Make ready is subsidized at up to 100% and it involves bringing power from the source to the “pad,” meaning where the EVSE is being installed. Even if a MUD starts small in terms of the number of chargers installed, it would be wise in the case of the make ready to plan for future demand since bringing power to a location is a non-trivial exercise. The adjudication recommends that the utilities (EDCs) talk this through with the site hosts to determine how much power should be put in place.

EVSE Subsidies

There is also a subsidy of up to 50% for the EVSE hardware itself. There is a minimum requirement of 2 ports (plugs).

Site Cap

A cap of $20,000 is placed on the incentives for a particular site (make ready plus EVSE), unless the site is in a distressed area, in which case it doubles to $40,000.

EVSE Leasing Option

Since buying numerous EVSE, even with a subsidy, can represent a substantial capital cost, there is will also be a forthcoming leasing option. The EDC would be the owner and a monthly fee would be paid for the equipment. There will be buyout rights. The EDCs have a deadline of May 1, 2022 to submit their proposals to PURA with a planned implementation date of July 1, 2022.

PURA has concerns about this arrangement crowding out the private marketplace and so it will be revisited and evaluated after the first program cycle.

Managed Charging and Charging Costs

Enrollment in a managed charging program will also be required of this class of customer. However, the initial proposal by the EDCs was not accepted by PURA. The EDCs have until May 1 to submit a revised proposal with implementation no later than January 1, 2023. Something that is expected that differs from the single family residential is that the incentive will take the form of a baseline incentive with the ability to craft a customized program with the EDC, dependent upon certain conditions

There is the thorny question about how costs are passed along to drivers. Is that the domain of the EDC or the site owner? Does there need to be sub-metering? How best to address the “split-incentive” arising between landlords and tenants? A final resolution has not been decided upon and a more complete plan will be developed over the coming year. It is PURA’s preference to avoid sub-metering and direct billing of drivers.

Demand Charges

These are classified as commercial incentives. And commercial accounts are subject to demand charges. There is a plan for demand charge mitigation, but the details of this are yet to be finalized. There is a stop-gap plan in force. This is also something to make sure to discuss with the EDC.

As noted in the prior blog post about single family residential charging incentives, we have scheduled a Zoom meeting on January 25th with spokespersons from both PURA and the UI. Bring your questions!

Important Note: The above-described incentives are part of the commercial incentives. These apply to condos with a minimum of 5 units. Buildings with fewer units are treated as residential.

The application portal is expected to be ready by the end of Q1 2022.