Bill Summary – FastDemocracy

BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                          S.271
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                                       S.271
 Introduced by Senators Vyhovsky, Gulick, Hardy, Perchlik, Watson and
                White
 Referred to Committee on
 Date:
 Subject: Energy; electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE); electric vehicle
          charging; housing; common interest communities; condominiums;
          planned community; apartments; rentals; infrastructure
 Statement of purpose of bill as introduced: This bill proposes to establish
 right-to-charge laws to permit property owners and tenants to install electric
 vehicle supply equipment (EVSE).
    An act relating to a right to charge electric vehicles at home
 It is hereby enacted by the General Assembly of the State of Vermont:
 Sec. 1. 9 V.S.A. chapter 137, subchapter 2 is amended to read:
                  Subchapter 2. Residential Rental Agreements
                                       ***
 § 4469. ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUPPLY EQUIPMENT
    (a) As used in this section:
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        (1) “Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)” means a device or
 system designed and used specifically to transfer electrical energy to a plug-in
 electric vehicle.
        (2) “EVSE time-of-use (TOU) meter” means an electric meter supplied
 and installed by an electric distribution utility that is separate from, and in
 addition to, any other electric meter and is devoted exclusively to the charging
 of plug-in electric vehicles and that tracks the TOU when charging occurs. An
 EVSE TOU meter includes any wiring or conduit necessary to connect the
 meter to an EVSE, regardless of whether it is supplied or installed by an
 electric utility.
    (b) For any rental agreement executed, extended, or renewed on and after
 January 1, 2025, a lessor of a dwelling unit shall approve a written request of a
 tenant to install an EVSE at a parking space allotted for the tenant that meets
 the requirements of this section and complies with the lessor’s procedural
 approval process for modification to the property.
    (c) This section does not apply to residential rental properties where:
        (1) EVSE already exist for lessees in a ratio that is equal to or greater
 than 10 percent of the designated parking spaces;
        (2) parking is not provided as part of the lease agreement; or
        (3) there are fewer than five parking spaces.
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    (d) A lessor shall not be obligated to provide an additional parking space to
 a tenant in order to accommodate EVSE.
    (e) If the EVSE has the effect of providing the tenant with a reserved
 parking space, the lessor may charge a monthly rental amount for that parking
 space.
    (f) The EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, and all modifications and
 improvements to the property shall comply with federal, State, and local law,
 and all applicable zoning requirements, land use requirements, and covenants,
 conditions, and restrictions.
    (g) A tenant’s written request to make a modification to the property in
 order to install and use EVSE shall include the tenant’s consent to enter into a
 written agreement that includes the following:
       (1) Compliance with the lessor’s requirements for the installation, use,
 maintenance, and removal of the EVSE or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU
 meter and installation, use, and maintenance of the infrastructure for the EVSE
 or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter.
       (2) Compliance with the lessor’s requirements for the tenant to provide a
 complete financial analysis and scope of work regarding the installation of the
 EVSE or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter and its infrastructure.
       (3) Obligation of the tenant to pay the lessor all costs associated with the
 lessor’s installation of the EVSE or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter and VT LEG #372240 v.2
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 related infrastructure prior to any modification or improvement being made to
 the leased property. The costs associated with modifications and
 improvements shall include the cost of permits, supervision, construction, and,
 solely if required by the contractor and consistent with its past performance of
 work for the lessor, performance bonds.
       (4) Obligation of the tenant to pay as part of rent for the costs associated
 with the electrical usage, whether or not through an EVSE TOU meter, of the
 EVSE, and cost for damage, maintenance, repair, removal, and replacement of
 the EVSE or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter, and modifications or
 improvements made to the property associated with the EVSE or both the
 EVSE and EVSE TOU meter.
    (h) The tenant and each successor tenant shall obtain personal liability
 coverage in an amount not to exceed 10 times the annual rent charged for the
 dwelling unit covering property damage and personal injury proximately
 caused by the installation or operation of the EVSE or both the EVSE and
 EVSE TOU meter. The policy shall be maintained in full force and effect from
 the time of installation of the EVSE or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter
 until the EVSE or the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter is removed or the tenant
 forfeits possession of the dwelling unit to the lessor.
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    (i) Notwithstanding subsection (h) of this section, no insurance shall be
 required of a tenant installing an EVSE or both an EVSE and EVSE TOU
 meter if the following are satisfied:
       (1) the EVSE has been certified by a Nationally Recognized Testing
 Laboratory that is approved by the Occupational Safety and Health
 Administration of the U.S. Department of Labor; and
       (2) the EVSE and any associated alterations to the dwelling’s electrical
 system are performed by a licensed electrician and the EVSE TOU meter, if
 applicable, is installed by the electric distribution utility providing service.
    (j) A lessor that intentionally violates this section shall be liable to the
 tenant or other party for actual damages and shall pay a civil penalty to the
 tenant or other party in an amount not to exceed $1,000.00.
    (k) In any action by a tenant requesting to have an EVSE installed and
 seeking to enforce compliance with this section, the prevailing plaintiff shall
 be awarded reasonable attorney’s fees.
 Sec. 2. 27A V.S.A. § 1-204 is amended to read:
 § 1-204. PREEXISTING COMMON INTEREST COMMUNITIES
    (a)(1) Unless excepted under section 1-203 of this title, the following
 sections and subdivisions of this title apply to a common interest community
 created in this State before January 1, 1999: sections 1-103, 1-105, 1-106, 1-
 107, 2-103, 2-104, and 2-121, subdivisions 3-102(a)(1) through (6) and (11)
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 through (16), and sections 3-111, 3-116, 3-118, 3-125, 4-109, and 4-117 to the
 extent necessary to construe the applicable sections. The sections and
 subdivisions described in this subdivision apply only to events and
 circumstances occurring after December 31, 1998 and do not invalidate
 existing provisions of the declarations, bylaws, plats, or plans of those
 common interest communities.
                                        ***
 Sec. 3. 27A V.S.A. § 3-125 is added to read:
 § 3-125. ELECTRIC VEHICLE SUPPLY EQUIPMENT
    (a) Definitions. As used in this section:
       (1) “Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE)” means a device or
 system designed and used specifically to transfer electrical energy to a plug-in
 electric vehicle.
       (2) “EVSE owner” means the unit owner who applies to install an EVSE
 and each successive unit owner associated with the initial application to install
 the EVSE unless there is a specific change in ownership of the EVSE, in which
 case the EVSE owner shall be the owner specified in a conveying document
 memorializing the change in ownership of the EVSE.
       (3) “EVSE time-of-use (TOU) meter” means an electric meter supplied
 and installed by an electric distribution utility that is separate from, and in
 addition to, any other electric meter and is devoted exclusively to the charging VT LEG #372240 v.2
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 of plug-in electric vehicles and that tracks the TOU when charging occurs. An
 EVSE TOU meter includes any wiring or conduit necessary to connect the
 meter to an EVSE, regardless of whether it is supplied or installed by an
 electric utility.
       (4) “Plug-in electric vehicles” has the same meaning as in 23 V.S.A.
 § 4(85).
       (5) “Reasonable restrictions” are restrictions that do not significantly
 increase the cost of the EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, or significantly
 decrease the efficiency or specified performance of the EVSE or EVSE TOU
 meter, or both.
    (b) Protected uses.
       (1) Any covenant, restriction, or condition contained in any deed,
 contract, security instrument, or other instrument affecting the transfer or sale
 of any interest in a common interest community, and any provision of a
 governing document associated with a common interest community, such as a
 declaration or bylaws, that either effectively prohibits or unreasonably restricts
 the installation or use of an EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, within a unit
 owner’s unit or in a designated parking space, including a deeded parking
 space, a parking space in a unit owner’s exclusive use common element, or a
 parking space that is specifically designated for use by a particular unit owner,
 or is in conflict with this section is void and unenforceable.
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     BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                         S.271
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       (2) This subsection (b) shall not apply to provisions that impose
 reasonable restrictions on EVSE or EVSE TOU meters, or both. However, it is
 the policy of the State to promote, encourage, and remove obstacles to the use
 of plug-in electric vehicles, including access to EVSE at home.
       (3) The EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, and all modifications and
 improvements to the common interest community shall comply with federal,
 State, and local law, and all applicable zoning requirements, land use
 requirements, and covenants, conditions, and restrictions.
       (4) If approval is required for the installation or use of EVSE or EVSE
 TOU meters, or both, the application for approval shall be processed and
 approved by the association in the same manner as an application for approval
 of an architectural modification to the common interest community and shall
 not be intentionally avoided or delayed. The approval or denial of an
 application shall be in writing. If an application is not denied in writing within
 60 days from the date of receipt of the application, the application shall be
 deemed approved, unless that delay is the result of a reasonable request for
 additional information.
       (5) If the EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, is to be placed in a
 common element or a limited common element, as designated in the common
 interest community’s declaration, the following provisions apply:
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          (A) The unit owner first shall obtain approval from the association to
 install the EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, and the association shall
 approve the installation if the unit owner agrees in writing to do all of the
 following:
              (i) comply with the association’s architectural standards for the
 installation of the EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both;
              (ii) engage a licensed contractor to install the EVSE and, if
 necessary, to install wiring or conduit necessary to connect the EVSE to an
 EVSE TOU meter;
              (iii) engage the electric distribution utility providing service to
 install the EVSE TOU meter, if applicable;
              (iv) provide a certificate of insurance that names the association as
 an additional insured under the unit owner’s insurance policy within 14 days
 after approval; and
              (v) pay for both the costs associated with the installation of the
 EVSE or both the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter and the electricity usage
 associated with the EVSE.
          (B) The unit owner and each successive owner of the EVSE or both
 the EVSE and EVSE TOU meter shall be responsible for all of the following:
              (i) costs for damage to the EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both;
 common element; or limited common element resulting from the installation,
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 maintenance, repair, removal, or replacement of the EVSE or EVSE TOU
 meter, or both;
              (ii) costs for the maintenance, repair, and replacement of the
 EVSE or EVSE TOU meter, or both, until the EVSE has been removed and for
 the restoration of the common element or limited common element after
 removal;
              (iii) cost of electricity associated with the EVSE; and
              (iv) disclosing to prospective buyers of the unit the existence of
 any EVSE or EVSE TOU meters, or both, and the related responsibilities of
 the unit owner under this section.
            (C) The owner of EVSE, whether the EVSE is located within a unit
 or within a common element or a limited common element, shall, at all times,
 maintain a liability coverage policy that names the association as an additional
 insured. The unit owner that submitted the application to install the EVSE or
 EVSE TOU meter, or both, shall provide the association with the
 corresponding certificate of insurance within 14 days following approval of the
 application. That unit owner and each successor EVSE owner shall annually
 provide the association with the certificate of insurance.
            (D) An EVSE owner shall not be required to maintain a homeowner
 liability coverage policy for an existing National Electrical Manufacturers
 Association standard alternating current power plug.
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       (6) Installation of an EVSE or both EVSE and EVSE TOU meter for the
 exclusive use of a unit owner in a common element or limited common
 element shall be authorized by the association only if installation in the unit
 owner’s unit or designated parking space is impossible or unreasonably
 expensive. In such cases, the association shall enter into a license agreement
 with the unit owner for the use of the space in a common element or limited
 common element and the unit owner shall comply with all of the requirements
 in subdivision (5) of this subsection.
       (7) The association may install an EVSE or both an EVSE and EVSE
 TOU meter in the common element or limited common element for the use of
 all unit owners in the association and, in that case, the association shall develop
 appropriate terms of use for the EVSE.
       (8) Subject to subdivision (3) of this subsection, an association may
 create a new parking space where one did not previously exist to facilitate the
 installation of an EVSE.
       (9) An association that intentionally violates this subsection shall be
 liable to the applicant unit owner or other party for actual damages and shall
 pay a civil penalty to the applicant unit owner or other party in an amount not
 to exceed $1,000.00.
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    BILL AS INTRODUCED                                                        S.271
    2024