On February 15th SB 573 passed the State Senate on a (mostly) partisan vote of 19-13. All Democrats voted against the bill. Sen. Steve Nass was the only GOP Senator who voted against it.
The State Assembly has placed the bill on today’s floor calendar (Wednesday, February 23rd) for a vote. If it passes the Assembly the bill goes to the Governor for his consideration.
RENEW Wisconsin is opposed to the bill in its current form (Senate Substitute Amendment 3). While this legislation clarifies that selling electricity to electric vehicles (EVs) by the minute or kilowatt does not subject EV charging station owners to utility regulation, it has several provisions that are of concern:
- Requires that all electricity sold through an electric vehicle charger must come from the local utility. This stipulation would prohibit EV chargers that get any of their electricity from a non-utility-owned rooftop or standalone solar+storage system from being available to the public if they charge a fee.
- No local governments, which includes cities, villages, towns, counties, school districts, special purpose districts, or any state agency, may own, operate, manage, lease or control an EV charging facility available to the public. Local governmental units may authorize a utility or private entity to operate a charger on their property.
For background, you can view RENEW’s testimony on this bill here.
Please contact your legislators in the Assembly and ask them to oppose this legislation unless those issues are corrected!
Thank you for your support!
Please email RENEW Wisconsin Director of Government Affairs, Jim Boullion, if you have any questions.