Cal. PRC § 25231.5 — California Code / Code prc / Division 15 / Chapter 3 / Section 25231.5
Section 25231.5
Status: in_force

(a) (1) The commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, shall develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations by January 1, 2024.

(2) The uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards shall do all of the following:

(A) Only apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers.

(B) Apply for a minimum of six years unless the commission decides a longer time span is more appropriate.

(C) Apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024.

(3) (A) The commission shall define “uptime” through a public workshop process and apply it to each electric vehicle charger and charging station and create a formula to calculate uptime to provide consistent, standardized reporting of information at least annually.

(B) When defining “uptime,” the commission shall do both of the following:

(i) Include the operability of both software and hardware.

(ii) Consider federal definitions to ensure consistency between standards.

(C) The commission shall determine what events that make a charging station inoperable constitute excluded time for purposes of developing the formula. In making this determination, the commission and Public Utilities Commission shall only consider events that are outside a charging station operator’s control. This may include issues related to the electrical grid, WiFi connectivity, cellular connectivity, and vandalism, as defined by the commission through a public workshop process.

(b) (1) The commission may consider additional reliability metrics, including, but not limited to, success rate to initiate a charging session, customer satisfaction, and the number, nature, or length of events that interrupt service.

(2) The commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, shall hold a public workshop to discuss and identify industry best practices and charger technology capabilities that are demonstrated to increase reliability. As a result of this workshop, the commission may incorporate these best practices and capabilities into its uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards.

(3) Uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards may vary by technology type, power levels, number of chargers per site, and site ownership. Factors may include whether chargers are networked, whether chargers are Level 1, Level 2, or direct current fast chargers, and whether chargers are all-inclusive mobile solar charging stations.

(4) Uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards shall not apply to charging stations installed at residential real property containing four or fewer dwelling units.

(5) The funding entity shall clearly disclose these reporting requirements to the funding recipient. If the funding recipient is an electric vehicle service provider or other third-party entity that is not the site host, the electric vehicle service provider or third-party entity shall provide a separate disclosure to the site host about the site host’s right to designate the service provider or third-party as the entity to report the data on behalf of the site host. The funding recipient shall verify receipt by signing the disclosure, to be confirmed by the funding entity.

(c) (1) Beginning January 1, 2025, the commission shall assess the uptime of charging station infrastructure, including, at a minimum, an assessment of equitable access to reliable charging stations in low-, moderate-, and high-income communities.

(2) The commission shall update the assessment performed pursuant to this subdivision every two years.

(3) An individual or company supplying information or data to the commission pursuant to this section may request that the information or data be held in confidence by the commission pursuant to Section 25322.

(d) (1) The commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, shall adopt tools to increase charging station uptime, including, but not limited to, uptime requirements, operation and maintenance requirements, and may include incentives, including operation and maintenance incentives.

(2) By January 1, 2025, the commission shall set standards for how stations subject to this section shall notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure.

(e) This section does not prohibit or limit the commission’s or other state agencies’ ability under any other law, including, but not limited to, the authority to include reporting or reliability requirements as a condition of grants or other agreements or to adopt other charging station reporting standards.

(f) Nothing in this section shall be construed to grant the commission an exemption from the Administrative Procedure Act (Chapter 3.5 (commencing with Section 11340) of Part 1 of Division 3 of Title 2 of the Government Code).

(g) This section shall remain in effect only until January 1, 2035, and as of that date is repealed.