Louisiana has made very encouraging progress in recent years regarding the expansion of the EV charging network. However, there is still a great deal of work to be done. Charge Ahead Partnership first engaged in Louisiana in 2022 in support of Senate Bill 460, which passed and was signed by the Governor. The bill urged the Louisiana Public Service Commission (LPSC) to consider rates for EV charging that would promote private investment and ruled that charging station providers can sell electricity for EV charging without being deemed a public utility.
Since the passage of SB 460 there has been incremental progress at the LPSC helping to address these issues. The first step came in April 2023 when the LPSC took the necessary first step for private investment to enter Louisiana's EV charging market by ruling that EV charging station operators can sell electricity for EV charging without being regulated as an electric utility. This ensures that any business can invest in EV charging stations without being subject to LPSC utility rules and brings Louisiana policy in line with most other states across the country.
The LPSC has made progress towards leveling the playing field, but there is still work to do:
In April of 2023, the LPSC ruled that EV charging operators should not be regulated as public utilities, a critical first step for private investment.
A LPSC staff report from August 2023 recommended prohibiting utilities from being able to operate EV charging stations unless done through a separate subsidiary, but the Commission has yet to consider this recommendation.
In August of 2023, commission staff issued a report in Docket No. R-35462. This rulemaking was conducted to research and evaluate customer-centered options for all electric customer classes as well as other regulatory environments. This report included a staff recommendation that utilities regulated by the LPSC not be allowed to maintain and operate EV charging stations, instead only allowing unregulated affiliates of utilities to maintain and operate charging stations provided that the affiliate is subject to the same rules as any other entity installing an EV charging station. In February 2024 these recommendations were formally filed in Docket No. R-36131. The LPSC is now considering these recommendations and has not issued a final decision yet. CAP is hopeful that the Commission will adopt these staff recommendations to provide necessary certainty to private investors in EV charging that electric utilities will not be able to unfairly compete with them in this growing market.
