It could soon be cheaper for Connecticut property owners to invest in electric vehicle chargers, thanks to a new program that could dole out hundreds of millions of dollars in incentives over the next nine years.
The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority (PURA) on Wednesday approved a plan that directs Eversource and United Illuminating to pay homeowners, employers and apartment building owners incentives for electric vehicle supply equipment and fast-charger installations, and to cover a portion of electrical make-ready costs.
The incentives will range from a $500 rebate for homeowners to as much as $250,000 per workplace site for locations in underserved areas installing fast chargers, or DCFCs.
The program is meant to help Connecticut achieve an ambitious target of having 500,000 registered electric vehicles by 2030.
The state’s electric vehicle count jumped 36%, to 17,217 over the past year, but the pace remains short of what is needed to hit the 500,000 target, EV Club of Connecticut reported last week.
The utilities will administer the incentives program starting Jan. 1, 2022. They will submit a budget to PURA for the first three years of the program by mid-October, and PURA will review the program every three years to ensure it is delivering on the expected value to Connecticut’s ratepayers and meeting program objectives.
Eversource estimated that its program would increase monthly bills for the average residential ratepayer by 11 cents in the first year, rising to $2.04 per month in the ninth year. UI estimated its portion of the program would add a penny per month in the first year, rising to as much as $2.23 per month in the final year.
PURA’s approval of the incentives program comes on the heels of an expansion of Connecticut’s electric vehicle purchase rebate program, known as CHEAPR.
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