Plan leads to fight over electric vehicle chargers

Private sector says it can’t compete with utilities

BY JUDITH KOHLER THE DENVER POST

Supporters of speeding up the move to electric vehicles see investment by utilities as essential, but business groups say it will be hard for them to compete with utilities on providing charging stations for the public.

In its second plan on electric vehicles filed with regulators, Xcel Energy proposes spending $145 million to build a public charging network over the next three years in addition to offering rebates and other programs. Charge Ahead Partnership, a national coalition that includes retailers that want to build EV charging stations, opposes proposals by Xcel and other utilities to install and operate chargers.

Coalition spokesman Ryan McKinnon said regulated utilities like Xcel Energy would have an unfair advantage in the emerging market because they can use ratepayers’ money to invest in the infrastructure and they get a certain rate of return on their investments.

“We’re advocating for policies that will make it more of a level playing field for private business retailers, basically just letting the free market come in and be able to provide this service without having to compete with a monopoly,” McKinnon said.

The coalition also objects to utilities owning and operating chargers because the money will come from ratepayers, including low-income customers and people who don’t have EVs.

Will Toor, executive director of the Colorado Energy Office, said there’s plenty of room for investors who want to build the thousands of charging stations that will be needed to meet the state’s goals for electrifying transportation.

“I’m more concerned that between state, federal, utility and private sector investment, can we get enough investment to meet that need,” Toor said.

An updated EV plan released earlier this year by the Polis administration calls for 2.1 million cars and SUVs on Colorado roads by 2035 and 1,700 fast chargers and 5,800 slower public chargers.

An analysis by the International Council on Clean Transportation said that nearly $1 billion will have to be spent on charging in - frastructure through this decade if Colorado wants to meet its goals.

The analysis suggested that Colorado will need nearly 5,000 fast-charging EV ports by the end of 2030, said Christian Williss, managing director for transportation at the energy office.

“Right now we’re at a little over 800,” Williss said. “It kind of takes an all-hands-on-deck approach.”

Not the right vehicle?

Ray Huff doesn’t think Xcel Energy and other investor-owned, regulated utilities are the right vehicles to build EV-charging networks. Huff is president of HJB Convenience Corp, a Lakewoodbased convenience store operator. He said private businesses nationwide want to take advantage of state and federal incentives to start installing chargers but worry about competing with utilities.

“They want to charge me as a ratepayer for their buildout of the network and then get their 10% or 9%c return on the money that they took from us,” Huff said. “I can’t do that as a private business person, why can they? Well, it’s because they have a monopoly.”

Public utilities are regulated but essentially operate as monopolies, providing service in certain geographical areas. In return, they get to recover the costs of building power plants, transmission lines and other expenses while making a certain amount of profit.

Both Xcel Energy and Black Hills Energy have submitted plans to the PUC for supporting the use of electric vehicles. Business and trade groups that object to utilities getting into the EV charging business have focused on Xcel Energy, Colorado’s largest electric utility.

Xcel has proposed building and operating up to 460 public fast chargers in its service territory from 2024-2026. That number is less than 10% of the more than 6,000 additional chargers needed to support the state’s goal of having 940,000 EVs on the road by 2030, Jack Ihle, Xcel’s regional vice president for regulatory policy, said in testimony to the PUC.

Ihle said that leaves more than 90% of the additional charging needed to be met by others. Xcel’s plan includes offering rebates for installing home EV chargers; rebates for vehicles; support for the electrification of commercial fleets; rates that encourage

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