> They're looking at it wrong. They're not giving away free fuel, they're
> encouraging people to use EVs. That saves the city, and its taxpayers,
> money in the long run.
Hypocrisy Alert!
This same utility offers rebates for home EVSE installation, has held
multiple EV demonstrations in various cities (they cover three
counties), purchases EV's for their fleet (the most recent being an
EV delivery van), and always has EV's in the annual festival parade
down Highway 101. Every month, the newsletter that they publish
arrives in the mail with the current bill, and often as not, there's
a descriptive article about EV's. Their offices have an entire rack
of literature and handout magazines touting EV's and specific EV brands.
Of course, all of these efforts come with a cost to the utility,
time, materials, employee overtime, etc. I doubt that they were
totalling up more than a few dollars a month in wholesale energy
costs for the light use that their free EVSE consumed.
When I first dropped in and connected my car, the front counter
attendants rushed out to take turns taking pictures of themselves and
me with the car. Up until that point, the only users of the pedestals
they had seen were the utility's own fleet vehicles.
Anyway, back on-topic:
It's entertaining to suggest a drip-feeder approach to installing
free gas and diesel supply systems in addition to the free EVSE to
circumvent the NC ordinances, but it would be assumed that there are
stringent regulations in place already for delivery of flammable and
combustible motor fuels. Storage, leak monitoring, explosion-proof
electrical supplies, and the big stickler, weights-and-measured
inspected and certified delivery pumps. Retail fuel delivery is a
well-controlled business, and even when giving the product away for
nothing, the rules would likely still apply. Imagine the insurance costs!
The bottom line is: This bill is probably the work and results of
lobbyists hounding the state legislature on the behalf of some large
money-grubbing corporation. Or worse, a large, money-grubbing
industry association.
When I was involved in the formation of a largely successful biofuels
manufacturer, we used to joke about getting big enough to have a
lobbyist in Salem. Then when we got big enough, yeah, we got one, for
sure. The result, in part, was a diesel renewable fuel mandate at the
state level.
Did we get fought? Yeah, some, but the petroleum jobbers in the state
knew that biofuels were coming, and that there was profit to be made
in manufacturing, transportation, blending, and sales of the product.
With that support, it became law.
Sadly, just like there are no free fossil fuels, there is unlikely to
be widespread free EVSE. Stomping on individuals or businesses that
decide to give instead of take is obviously very Grinch-like. Shame.
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