In the recent make ready order for the light duty vehicles CASE 18-E-0138, New York. Public service commission allowed Future proofing of the EV make ready infrastructure. The Commission directs that no more than eight percent of each utility’s overall Make-Ready Program budget be spent on future-proofing costs.
Vrinda, Inc. (Vrinda) argues that the Commission should make it mandatory for the utilities and developers to pair storage with charging stations as a requirement of futureproofing, to support de-carbonization, address congestion, and eliminate the need for costly upgrades which may get stranded in the future as EV utilization and ranges change.
Key question is should commission allow or disallow and set limits on future proofing?
While it is understood that there is a need to be prudent, but it should be left to the utilities and customer to decide what is reasonable future proofing and cost share. Future proofing is a feature desired by sight host who sees potential for expansion. Utility can finance such cost and defer recovery but should not be required to pay for this business risk unique to site hosts.