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I was reading this article on EV-charger pricing schemes. There are some vague references to states requiring per-minute pricing, but 0 explanations of that thing. A little research has suggested that it is not the case that states require per-minute pricing on EV chargers, but that they only allow per-kWh pricing by regulated utilities.

What is the reasoning behind these laws? I get that the sale of electricity by the big players is regulated because sanctioned monopoly stuff. Is this restriction on others just part of the monopoly grant? What's the deal here?

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    It could (this is not an answer) be as simple as "if you want to sell electricity by the kWh then here are a bunch of rules you have to follow to make sure you measure the kWh correctly"
    – user253751
    Sep 17, 2020 at 13:20
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    You might also ask whether it would be reasonable for a company operating public chargers to charge by KWh rather than time. An EV owner might well park at the charger in the morning, charge a few KWh, and stay there all day.
    – jamesqf
    Sep 17, 2020 at 17:39
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    @jamesqf, this is fair. However, I'm under the impression that these laws aren't targeting EV chargers. They're generic laws about anyone attempting to sell power that predate the widespread deployment of EV chargers. Mostly, my question is about this pre-EVcharger reasoning behind such a law --- why it's on the books in the first place.
    – Him
    Sep 17, 2020 at 18:17

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As far as I can find here's a quote from Electrify America

Palazzo explained that some stated (sic) won't allow kWh-based pricing because they don't allow entities to resell electricity. In those states, Electrify America will continue to sell "time" on their charging station. This is most likely why Electrify America started out with the pay-by-time pricing structure because they wanted to have one pricing scheme everywhere.

So seems like a workaround, as in some states they can't sell electricity (because they aren't producers) so instead they sell "time at the stand"

As for reasons why reselling electricity is not legal, I assume it's to try to keep big companies from speculating in kWh, and driving the price up.

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    It could also be to block things like landlords reselling electricity to you at three times the usual price (which of course you don't learn about until after you move in)
    – user253751
    Sep 17, 2020 at 13:42
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    @user253751 - The state's current prohibition on the resale of electricity is mostly aimed at unscrupulous landlords, a PUC official told Utility Dive.
    – Rick Smith
    Sep 17, 2020 at 17:53
  • @RickSmith Makes sense. If politicians are good at their jobs (highly unlikely), they'll make it legal for EV charging stations to charge per kWh, but not make it legal for landlords. Or they will make it legal for EV charging stations to recoup their costs per kWh and additionally charge per time. (Because the charging stations have mostly fixed-costs, not per-kWh costs! forcing their expenses to be structured similarly to their costs might make the market more efficient)
    – user253751
    Sep 17, 2020 at 17:56
  • speculating in kWh? Excellent idea!
    – uhoh
    Sep 20, 2020 at 2:25

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