As tourists turn to EVs, the state’s charging gap could cost us

From Energy News Network (whole article is here)

A coalition of tourism organizations representing more than 3,300 businesses throughout the state is now backing legislation that would help ramp up charging infrastructure by making chargers less cost-prohibitive to own and operate. 

Senate Bill 52 would allow electric distribution companies to recover the cost of doing the so-called “make-ready” work necessary for installing chargers from electric rates, so long as the costs are “prudently incurred.” The make-ready work — like trenching, poles, wires and transformers — can be as much as 30% of the total cost of putting in a charger, and that upfront cost can discourage businesses and municipalities from installing the technology, supporters say. 

The bill would also require the Public Utilities Commission, or PUC, to come up with a rate design for charging stations that is an alternative to the current demand charge model, which can be so costly that it makes operating a charger unfeasible.

The article notes that New Hampshire is a “charging desert” compared to neighboring states, as I’ve noted many times.