The passage of Nebraska Legislative Bill 1317 in 2024 transformed Nebraska from one of the least friendly states for private investment in electric vehicle (EV) charging to one of the best. Prior to the passage of LB 1317, Nebraska was the only state in the country that prohibited non-utilities from selling electricity by the kilowatt-hour for EV charging. In addition to allowing charging station operators to sell electricity by the kilowatt-hour, LB 1317 established a right of first refusal (ROFR) process that will allow private entities to have the opportunity to serve certain areas before a utility does. After the ROFR process expires at the end of 2027, utilities will still be prevented from owning and operating DCFC stations in close proximity to privately owned chargers. Finally, this bill helped to level the playing field by ensuring that any utility owned chargers must operate under the same rates, terms and conditions available to all charging station operators in the utility’s service territory.
Key Provisions of Nebraska LB 1317:
Allows private entities to sell electricity for EV charging by the kWh without being regulated as an electric utility.
Restricts unfair competition from electric utilities through a ROFR process and establishes other protections for privately owned chargers.
Requires utility owned chargers to operate on a level playing field.
In the 2024 session, CAP was initially supporting Legislative Bill 1218 before the EV charging language was included in LB 1317 as part of Nebraska's legislative process. The ROFR process and level playing field provisions established by this legislation make Nebraska an ideal state for private investment in the coming years. Even after the expiration of the ROFR process at the end of 2027, utilities will still not be able to place a charger within 10 miles of existing or permitted privately owned chargers. This will ensure that private investments made are not subject to unfair competition from electric utilities in the future.
Charge Ahead Partnership first engaged in Nebraska to raise concerns with Legislative Bill 505 in 2023. This bill would have allowed EV charging operators to sell electricity for EV charging without being regulated as an electric utility, a necessity for private investment. However, this bill included concerning language which could have encouraged utility rate-basing, keeping private investment out of the market and increasing costs for ratepayers. Ultimately, all language related to EV charging was stripped out of LB 505 while the bill was in committee and CAP returned in 2024 to support LB 1317.
