Portland General Electric has begun offering residential electric vehicle charger rebates of $500 — $1,000 for low-income households — with a catch that reflects a key concern of a switch to EVs that the state is eager to see happen.
Participants in the $17 million pilot program, approved by state regulators last October after long negotiations with ratepayer advocates and other stakeholders, are required to cede some control of their EV charger to the utility.
The concept is known in electricity circles as demand response. It’s commonly used with big customers who get paid to reduce their electricity use when trimming demand is more economical than increasing supply.
Because EVs represent a potentially big new power draw, utilities and ratepayer advocates are eager to shift demand from peak periods and toward times when energy, particularly from renewable sources, is abundant.
So the rebate program requires charging devices that are demand-response enabled, and enrollment in a program PGE calls “Smart Charging.” Under the program, the utility can call “managed charging events” during which it takes control of the customer’s charging device.
Customers can bow out of a particular event, but if they participate in three during a Smart Charging “season” — seasons run October to March and April to September — they get a $25 bill credit.
PGE believes the rebate program could pay for itself by boosting revenue through increased sales, and by trimming the likely increase to peak demand, thus avoiding new capacity costs.
The utility had originally proposed a program that would use time-of-use rates to manage demand. That remains a voluntary option under the adopted program.
PGE aims to sign up 5,000 customers in the rebate program by February 2024. That spring, a final report on the project is due, which regulators expect to use in deciding whether to make the program permanent.
In filings, PGE said the basic $500 rebate for a Level 2 home charging station would cover a bit more than a quarter of the estimated $1,840 total cost for the equipment and installation. The higher rebate is available to households that have income less than 80% of the area median.
