What's happening
This bill requires electric utilities to support and finance electrical infrastructure for public-serving fleet electric vehicle charging, including cost recovery through rates rather than direct customer charges.
Why it matters
Shifts infrastructure costs for public fleet EV charging from individual agencies to utility ratepayers. By allowing utilities to include the costs of both utility- and customer-owned infrastructure in their rate base, the bill spreads the expense over all customers, rather than requiring public fleets (like school districts or municipalities) to pay upfront, potentially accelerating fleet electrification.
Prioritizes equity for disadvantaged communities. Utilities must cover at least 90% of customer-owned infrastructure costs for sites in disadvantaged communities (compared to 50% elsewhere), helping to ensure that under-resourced areas are not left behind in the transition to electric public fleets.
Creates a standardized, predictable process for public fleet EV charging infrastructure. The bill requires all utilities to file new tariffs replacing their current ad hoc line extension rules, creating clearer, more unified guidelines for public entities to access support for EV charging projects and reducing bureaucratic barriers.
Incentivizes ongoing use of infrastructure for public fleets. If a non-public entity that received infrastructure support reduces its electric public fleet vehicles within ten years, the utility can recover a prorated portion of the incentive directly from them, discouraging misuse and ensuring the infrastructure serves its intended purpose.
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Who cares
Headline styles
Require Electric Fleet Charging Infrastructure
Plain English, a few words. Used as the page title.
Sponsors
3 Co-sponsors
History
- Referred to energy
- Print number 491a
- Amend (t) and recommit to energy
- Referred to energy
Companion bill
The same bill in the other chamber. A bill becomes law when one version passes both houses and the governor signs it, so either number can carry it.
Require EV Charging Infrastructure
In Senate Committee · Rules · Sponsor Leroy Comrie
Full text
3 pagesUnderlined is new[Struck] is removedOfficial text on nysenate.gov ↗
STATE OF NEW YORK
491--A
2025-2026 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY (Prefiled)
January 8, 2025
Introduced by M. of A. WOERNER, GRIFFIN -- read once and referred to the Committee on Energy -- committee discharged, bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the public service law, in relation to building makeready electrical infrastructure for the charging of electric vehicles for public serving fleet vehicles
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assembly, do enact as follows:
Section 1. The public service law is amended by adding a new section 66-x to read as follows:
§ 66-x. Make-ready electrical infrastructure. 1. Legislative intent and purpose. It is the intent and purpose of this section to implement cost effective and unified treatment by electric corporations of electrical distribution infrastructure, and certain customer-owned makeready infrastructure, needed to charge electric public serving fleet vehicles; and provide for certain costs of such infrastructure to be included in electric corporations' rate bases and generally recovered through rates or surcharges, instead of directly from the public serving fleet customers served by such infrastructure. Nothing in this section shall modify any obligation of an electric corporation to provide a full and accurate accounting of costs related to electrical distribution infrastructure needed to charge electric vehicles.
2. Definitions. For the purposes of this section the following terms shall have the following meanings:
(a) "Electrical distribution infrastructure" means any utility facilities used to distribute electric service to customers, and includes poles, vaults, service drops, transformers, mounting pads, trenching, conduit, wire, cable, meters, other equipment as necessary, and associated engineering and civil construction work.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[ ] is old law to be omitted.
LBD00265-03-5
(b) "Utility-owned make-ready costs" means any capital investment in electrical distribution infrastructure needed to connect and serve a new electric vehicle charger, including step down transformers, overhead service lines, and utility meters.
(c) "Customer-owned make-ready costs" means any capital investment in equipment or infrastructure beyond the utility service point necessary to make a site ready to accept an electric vehicle charger, including conductors, trenching, and panels.
(d) "Disadvantaged community" means a community defined as a disadvantaged community under article seventy-five of the environmental conservation law.
(e) "Public serving fleet" means a fleet of vehicles owned, leased, or contracted by the state, any municipality, public authority or school district.
3. Reasonable efforts required. Electric corporations shall make reasonable efforts to ensure that any infrastructure built pursuant to this section is efficiently sized and operated. Such efforts may include, but not be limited to, considering customers' reasonably foreseeable load management activities and deployments of distributed energy resources.
4. Application. No later than sixty days after the effective date of this section, all electric corporations shall file an application with the commission to establish a tariff that shall replace the line extension rules currently used by such electric corporations. Such tariff, at a minimum, shall:
(a) provide for such electric corporation to deploy or reimburse the customer's reasonable costs, subject to reasonable conditions, of customer-side make-ready infrastructure for public serving fleets;
(b) authorize such electric corporation to include in its rate base one hundred percent of all reasonable and prudent utility-owned makeready costs incurred to serve electric vehicle charging loads of public serving fleets;
(c) authorize such electronic corporation to include in its base rate of reasonable and prudent customer-side make-ready costs needed to prepare a public serving fleet's site for electric vehicle charging in the following manner:
(i) a minimum fifty percent or higher where authorized by the commission, of reasonable customer-owned make-ready costs in locations that are not within a disadvantaged community or a disadvantaged community zone;
(ii) a minimum ninety percent, or higher where authorized by the commission, of reasonable customer-owned make-ready costs located within a disadvantaged community or disadvantaged community zone; and
(d) provide that the portion of customer-owned make-ready costs included in the electric corporation's rate base shall not be charged directly or solely to the customer served by such make-ready infrastructure; except where the customer is not a public entity, and within ten years of receiving a customer-side make-ready incentive at a location pursuant to this section, reduces the number of electric public serving fleet vehicles operating at such location. The tariff shall provide for the electric corporation to recover a prorated portion of the customerside make-ready incentive directly from the customer in such instance.
5. Disadvantaged community zone. For the purposes of this section the commission shall define the term "disadvantaged community zone".
6. Cost treatment and recovery for utility-owned make-ready costs. All electric corporations shall maintain budgets for its costs incurred under this section. The portion of customer-owned make-ready costs incurred by an electric corporation pursuant to subdivision four of this section shall be treated in accordance with a depreciation or amortization schedule as authorized by the commission. Any electric corporation may recover the incremental revenue requirement associated with such costs through a surcharge mechanism until its base rates are reset. Any electric corporation seeking to recover such costs through a surcharge mechanism shall include such proposal as part of its application filed pursuant to subdivision four of this section.
7. Approval of tariffs. The commission shall, after notice and opportunity for public comment and within ninety days of the filing of the tariff, approve, or modify and approve, such tariff.
§ 2. This act shall take effect immediately.
Reflowed for reading: line numbers and page breaks removed. Cite the official text.
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