OHIO LEGISLATIVE SERVICE COMMISSION
Office of Research Legislative Budget
www.lsc.ohio.gov and Drafting Office
S.B. 266 Bill Analysis
135th General Assembly
Click here for S.B. 266’s Fiscal Note
Version: As Introduced
Primary Sponsor: Sen. Reineke
Effective date:
Rocky Hernandez, Attorney
SUMMARY
Publicly available electric vehicle charging stations
Prohibition on EDU-ownership of EV charging stations
Prohibits an electric distribution utility (EDU) from owning or operating a publicly
available electric vehicle (EV) charging station except through a separate affiliate or
subsidiary that is not subject to Public Utilities Commission (PUCO) jurisdiction and
except under other circumstance explained below.
Allows PUCO to approve a program, funded by revenues from EDU rates, to promote
the creation of EV charging stations by EV charging providers or the purchase of any
equipment used to charge an EV by residential customers.
Prohibits an EDU from charging its affiliate or subsidiary a subsidized rate, fee, or charge
for electric service distributed to the affiliate’s or subsidiary’s publicly available EV
charging stations.
Requires an EDU affiliate or subsidiary that owns or operates an EV charging station to
be subject to the same rates, terms, and conditions that apply to EV charging providers
located in the EDU’s certified territory.
EDU’s ownership of an EV charging station
Allows an EDU, notwithstanding the prohibition stated above and under certain
circumstances, to petition PUCO for approval of the installation and ownership of a
publicly available EV charging station solely in an area of last resort, provided that
approval is contingent on certain findings.
Provides that no EDU is obligated to deploy equipment for a publicly available EV
charging station without “timely and adequate cost recovery.”
May 24, 2024
Office of Research and Drafting LSC Legislative Budget Office
Requires an EDU, when petitioning PUCO for approval installation and ownership, to file
an installation/ownership proposal with PUCO that includes certain information
describing the area of last resort and the proposed publicly available EV charging
station.
Requires an EDU, concurrently with the installation/ownership proposal filing, to
provide conspicuous public proposal notice on the EDU’s website and to each dealer of
transportation fuel within a ten-mile radius of the location of the EDU’s proposed
publicly available EV charging station which must contain certain specified dates.
Requires PUCO, prior to approving an EDU’s installation and ownership of a publicly
available EV charging station, to conduct a right of first refusal process unless there is a
publicly available EV charging station within a ten-mile radius of the EDU-proposed
location.
Allows an EDU to submit to PUCO a notice of intent to proceed with installation of a
publicly available EV charging station if, within 90 days after the proposal notice is
provided, no EV charging providers are identified within ten miles of the EDU-proposed
location.
Allows an EDU, not earlier than 180 days after PUCO’s approval, to proceed with the
construction and operation of its proposed publicly available EV charging station unless
PUCO determines that the construction and operation duplicates a publicly available EV
charging station operated, or under construction, by another person.
Notice by another person to provide EV charging station
Allows any person (except an EDU, electric cooperative, and municipal electric utility),
not later than 90 days after the filing of the EV charging station installation/ownership
proposal and proposal notice, to submit a notice to PUCO of intent to provide a publicly
available EV charging station within a ten-mile radius of the EDU-proposed location, and
that it intends to request make-ready infrastructure from the EDU.
Requires the notice to include the person’s firm commitment to place the charging
station into service before the later of:
18 months after the person submitted the notice; or
12 months after the date installation of necessary make-ready infrastructure is
completed.
Subsidizing EV charging stations
Prohibits revenues received by an EDU for providing electric distribution service to not,
directly or indirectly, subsidize investments in the ownership or operation of EV charging
stations, except as part of a program approved by PUCO under the bill’s provisions.
Cost recovery and EDU’s use of EV charging stations
Provides that nothing in the bill prohibits an EDU, or shall be construed to prohibit an
EDU, from the following:
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Recovering the costs of make-ready infrastructure through rates or charges
authorized under the EDU’s distribution rate case under current law, so long as such
subsidies for those costs are offered to EV charging providers on a nondiscriminatory
basis;
Operating, leasing, installing, or otherwise procuring service from an EV charging
station on its own premises for the sole purpose of serving its own EVs.
DETAILED ANALYSIS
Overview
The bill creates a regulatory scheme, overseen by the Public Utilities Commission
(PUCO), governing the installation, operation, ownership, and certain cost recovery regarding
publicly available electric vehicle (EV) charging stations by electric distribution utilities (EDUs),
their affiliates or subsidiaries, and nonelectric utility entities.
Discussion
Prohibition on EDU-ownership of EV charging stations
The bill prohibits an EDU from owning or operating a publicly available EV charging
station except through a separate affiliate or subsidiary that is not subject to PUCO jurisdiction
and except as discussed below (see, “EV charging station ownership by an EDU”
below). The bill further provides it does not prohibit PUCO from approving a program, funded
by revenues from EDU rates, to promote the creation of EV charging stations by EV charging
providers (defined as owners and operators of an EV charging station, excluding EDUs and their
affiliates and subsidiaries that own or operate a station) or the purchase of any equipment used
to charge an EV by residential customers.
An “EV” is defined as a vehicle that is powered wholly by a system that can be recharged
via an external source of electricity, including a vehicle for public or private use that is a
passenger car, commercial car or truck, or a vehicle used in public transit, a vehicle used in a
fleet, construction work, and industrial or warehouse work. An “EV charging station” is any
nonresidential EV charging system that is: (1) capable of distributing electricity from a source
outside an EV to the EV, and (2) a “direct current fast charging system” (an EV charging system
capable of distributing 50 kilowatts or more of direct current to an EV’s rechargeable battery at
200 volts or more) or a “level two charging station” (any EV charging system capable of
distributing between three and 20 kilowatts of alternating current to an EV’s rechargeable
battery at 200 volts or more).1
Subsidization prohibited
The bill prohibits EDUs from charging its affiliate or subsidiary a subsidized rate, fee, or
charge for electric service distributed to the affiliate’s or subsidiary’s publicly available EV
1 R.C. 4933.51(B) and (D) to (G) and 4933.53(A).
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charging stations. Additionally, an EDU affiliate or subsidiary that owns or operates an EV
charging station must be subject to the same rates, terms, and conditions that apply to EV
charging providers located in the EDU’s certified territory.2
EV charging station ownership by an EDU
Installation/ownership petition for area of last resort
The bill allows an EDU, five or more years after the bill’s effective date, to petition PUCO
for approval of the installation and ownership of a publicly available EV charging station in an
area of last resort, but only if it can demonstrate that there is not at least one publicly available
EV charging station in the area of last resort. PUCO may approve, modify and approve, or reject
an EDU’s installation and ownership of such a charging station in an area of last resort, provided
that any approval must include a finding that there is no other publicly available EV charging
stations in the area of last resort or another person has not provided PUCO with notice that
they intend to construct a publicly available EV charging station in the area (see “Notice by
another person to provide EV charging station” below).
“Area of last resort” is defined as an area within an EDU’s designated service territory
that is located in an Ohio county with a population of not more than 50,000, but excluding any
areas of the county that are within a ten-mile radius of another publicly available EV charging
station or any areas of the county that are within one mile of an “alternative fuel corridor”
designated by the Federal Highway Administration.3
Cost recovery
The bill provides that no EDU is under an obligation to deploy equipment for a publicly
available EV charging station without “timely and adequate cost recovery.”4
Installation/ownership proposal
The bill requires an EDU that filed a petition for approval for the installation and
ownership of a publicly available EV charging station, as described above, to also file a proposal
with PUCO that includes:
A description of the area of last resort;
A statement certifying that there is not at least one publicly available EV charging
station in the area of last resort;
A description of the publicly available EV charging station it proposes to construct at the
location.
2 R.C. 4933.53(B).
3 R.C. 4933.51(A) and 4933.53(C)(1); for information about alternative fuel corridors, see the FHA’s
webpage regarding national alternative fuels corridors, which is available on the FHA’s website:
afdc.energy.gov/laws.
4 R.C. 4933.53(C)(2).
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Notice of the proposal
The bill further requires an EDU, concurrently with filing the proposal, to provide
conspicuous public notice on the EDU’s website and to each dealer of transportation fuel within
a ten-mile radius of the location of the EDU’s proposed publicly available EV charging station.
The notice must contain:
The date the EDU filed a proposal with PUCO to provide a publicly available EV charging
station;
The date by which a person may file a proposal to provide a publicly available EV
charging station within a ten-mile radius of the proposed location (see “Notice by
another person to provide EV charging station” below).5
Right of first refusal
The bill requires PUCO, prior to approving an EDU’s installation and ownership of a
publicly available EV charging station, to conduct a right of first refusal process. The bill,
however, prohibits PUCO from conducting a right of first refusal process if there is a publicly
available EV charging station within a ten-mile radius of the site from where the EDU proposes
to locate such a charging station.6
Notice of intent to proceed with installation
The bill allows an EDU to submit to PUCO a notice of intent to proceed with installation
of a publicly available EV charging station if, within 90 days after the EDU provides the notice of
the proposal, no EV charging providers are identified within ten miles of the location proposed
by the EDU (see “Installation/ownership proposal” and “Notice of the proposal”
above).7
Construction and operation
The bill allows an EDU, not earlier than 180 days after PUCO’s finding of public interest
and approval of the proposal and installation, to proceed with the construction and operation
of its proposed publicly available EV charging station. The bill, however, prohibits construction
if PUCO determines that the construction and operation unreasonably duplicates a publicly
available EV charging station operated, or under construction, by another person.8
Notice by another person to provide EV charging station
The bill, not later than 90 days after the filing of the installation/ownership proposal and
notice of the proposal, allows any person (except an EDU, electric cooperative, or a municipal
electric utility) to submit a notice to PUCO stating that it intends to provide a publicly available
5 R.C. 4933.53(D).
6 R.C. 4933.53(E).
7 R.C. 4933.53(F).
8 R.C. 4933.53(G).
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EV charging station within a ten-mile radius of the location proposed by an EDU and intends to
request the necessary make-ready infrastructure from the EDU. This notice must include the
person’s firm commitment to place the publicly available EV charging station into service before
the later of the following dates:
18 months after the dates the person submits the notice to PUCO;
12 months after the date of completion of the installation of the necessary make-ready
infrastructure.
The bill defines “make-ready infrastructure” as electrical infrastructure required to
accommodate the electric load of an EV charging station, excluding an EV charging station.9
Subsidizing EV charging stations
The bill prohibits an EDU from using revenues received for providing electric distribution
service to, directly or indirectly, subsidize investments in the ownership or operation of EV
charging stations, except as part of a PUCO-approved program consistent with the bill’s
provisions.10
Cost recovery for make-ready infrastructure
The bill explicitly provides that none of the bill’s provisions prohibit an EDU from
recovering the costs of make-ready infrastructure through rates or charges authorized under
the EDU’s distribution rate case under continuing law, but only if such subsidies for the make-
ready infrastructure are offered to EV charging providers on a nondiscriminatory basis.11
EDU’s use of EV charging stations
The bill states that none of the bill’s provisions should be construed to prohibit an EDU
from operating, leasing, installing, or otherwise procuring service from an EV charging station
on its own premises for the sole purpose of serving its own EVs.12
HISTORY
Action Date
Introduced 05-14-24
ANSB0266IN-135/ar
9 R.C. 4933.51(H) and 4933.54.
10 R.C. 4933.55.
11 R.C. 4933.57; R.C. 4909.18, not in the bill.
12 R.C. 4933.59.
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As Introduced