BILL ANALYSIS Ó
SB 454
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Date of Hearing: August 14, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Mike Gatto, Chair
SB 454 (Corbett) - As Amended: May 24, 2013
Policy Committee:
TransportationVote:10-3
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill establishes operating requirements for electric
vehicle (EV) charging stations. Specifically, this bill:
1)Stipulates that anyone using a charging station requiring
payment of a fee shall not be required to pay a subscription
fee or to obtain membership in any organization as a condition
of using the charging station. Allows charging station
operators to offer subscription or membership services.
2)Requires a charging station requiring a fee to allow payment
via credit card and/or mobile technology.
3)Requires charging station service providers to disclose
specific information regarding location, fees, acceptable
payment methods, and any network roaming charges for
nonmembers to the National Renewable Energy Laboratory-a
federally affiliated organization that collects and
distributes information free of charge.
4)Authorizes the Air Resources Board (ARB), if no national
interoperability billing standards for EV stations have been
adopted by January 1, 2015, to adopt such standards for
network roaming payment methods, and requires stations
requiring payments to meet those standards within one year
following adoption.
5)Requires the ARB to maintain a toll-free telephone number and
email address or website to collect consumer complaints
regarding violations of the above and to summarize the
complaints and make this information available to the public.
SB 454
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FISCAL EFFECT
1)Hotline/Complaints . One-time contract costs of $175,000 and
ongoing costs of $120,000 to establish and maintain the
toll-free phone-in system and a database for complaint
reporting, modify ARB websites to include reporting interface,
and to respond to and report on customer complaints.
2)Interoperability . If the ARB elects to adopt interoperability
payment standards, in the absence of federal action, it will
incur one-time contract costs of $300,000 to adopt the
standards and ongoing costs of $100,000 to monitor compliance.
The ARB indicates it does not have a fee source appropriate to
the above work, thus these costs would be to the General Fund.
COMMENTS
1)Background . In March 2012, Governor Brown issued an executive
order (EO) establishing a goal of placing 1.5 million ZEVs on
California's roadways by 2025. Toward this end the Governor's
Office in February 2013 released a zero-emission vehicle (ZEV)
Action Plan, which identified strategies and actions to meet
the benchmarks in the EO, including improving access to EV
charging stations, placing charging stations in a wide variety
of locations, and establishing EV charging station
interoperability standards.
2)Purpose . The author indicates that EV owners often do not have
broad access to EV charging stations because many
privately-owned charging stations require a subscription or
membership. The author also notes that some privately-owned
EV charging stations allow non-members to use the facility,
but only offer payment through the subscription service,
essentially barring non-members. The author contends these
practices hinder rather than help encourage EV adoption and
use because if an EV owner cannot charge their vehicle, the
fear that they will become stranded will cause them to use
their EV less and also discourage widespread adoption of EV
technology.
Analysis Prepared by : Chuck Nicol / APPR. / (916) 319-2081
SB 454
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