Philippine Asian News Today Vol 20 No 22 | Page 15

November 16 - 30, 2018
PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY
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BCUC Issues Report on the Regulation of
Electric Vehicle Charging Services in BC
VANCOUVER, British Columbia
-
The British Columbia Utilities
Commission (BCUC) issues a
report outlining its findings and
recommendations from Phase 1 of
the inquiry into electric vehicle (EV)
charging services in the province.
After reviewing the evidence and
submissions received in Phase 1, the
Panel made several key findings and
recommendations, outlined below.
Recommendation to Government
We recommend that the Minister
of Energy, Mines and Petroleum
Resources issue an exemption with
respect to BCUC’s regulation of EV
Charging Services but retain oversight
on safety.
Market Monopoly
• The public EV charging
market, including landlords and
strata corporations, does not exhibit
monopoly characteristics.
Public Utility Status
• The broad definition of
“compensation” in the Utilities
Commission
Act
encompasses
many forms of direct and indirect
compensation rendering most EV
charging stations to be public utilities.
Economic Regulation
• Economic regulation of any
aspect of the EV market is not required
to protect consumers from potential
abuse of monopoly power. This means
there is no need to regulate price and
terms of service. We recommend an
exemption from BCUC regulation.
• This recommendation also
applies to landlords and/or strata
corporations and any person not
otherwise a public utility that provides
EV charging services for compensation
(e.g. Tesla, Chargepoint, Parkades,
etc.).
The Inquiry will now move into
Phase 2 where the BCUC will focus
on the regulatory framework for EV
charging service providers that are
otherwise public utilities and have not
been recommended for exemption
(e.g. BC Hydro and FortisBC). Phase
2 topics include:
• How can exempt and non-
exempt public utilities co-exist in the
EV charging services market?
• What role do non-exempt
public utilities have in kick-starting the
EV charging services market?
• What is a non-exempt public
utility’s obligation to serve EV charging
customers?
• Is EV charging infrastructure
considered “distribution of electrical
energy” for the purpose of section 3(1)
of the Electrical Safety Regulation?
• Should a public utility create a
separate non-regulated business entity
to provide EV charging services?
• Who should pay for the cost of
any stranded assets?
• How
should
wholesale
electricity rates be
designed for EV CONT NEXT PAGE
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