Pacific Gas & Electric is proposing a $654 million ratepayer levy to fund a network of 25,000 electric vehicle charging stations across northern and central California.
“If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, the program will be the largest deployment of electric vehicle chargers in the country,” Greentech reports. But consumer advocates “are concerned that the program puts an unfair cost burden on ratepayers for infrastructure that only a small percentage of customers will use. A typical residential customer would pay an additional 70 cents per month to cover the costs of the program from 2018 to 2022.”
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The utility says the plan supports California’s larger sustainability agenda, thereby benefiting ratepayers who don’t drive electric vehicles. “Governor Jerry Brown has called for putting 1.5 million zero-emission vehicles on the road in California by 2025 as part of the state’s ambitious goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions to 80% below 1990 levels by 2050,” Pyper writes.
