Committee hears House Bill 2255 to update weights-and-measures law and add oversight for electric vehicle charging stations

The Senate Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources opened a hearing on House Bill 2255 on Wednesday, receiving an overview from the legislative reviser and testimony from Kelsey Olson, deputy secretary of the Kansas Department of Agriculture.

The reviser said the bill would reorganize and consolidate chapter 83 of the Kansas statutes to remove duplicative sections, update fee schedules and add two new sections specifically addressing electric vehicle supply equipment used commercially. "This bill is not as scary as it looks," the reviser said, describing the measure as largely a restructuring that also updates fees and adds definitions.

Kelsey Olson said the Department of Agriculture’s weights-and-measures program currently oversees commercial scales, point-of-sale systems and fuel dispensers to ensure consumers receive accurate quantities, and that the department does not now routinely inspect electric vehicle charging stations. "Currently any electrical charging station, we do not oversee at this point in time," Olson said. She testified that House Bill 2255 would add definitions for "electric vehicle supply equipment" and require annual testing and inspection by a licensed technical representative, a city or county representative, or department staff; equipment not tested within the previous 365 days would be taken out of service.

Olson told the committee the department’s metrology lab offers certification services and currently has low fees relative to peer laboratories, which has led to an outside demand that creates a six- to eight-month lead time for some services. She said increasing fees would make the lab more competitive and could reduce out-of-state demand. Olson said the department presently employs two full-time equivalents for that work and does not plan to request new FTEs as part of implementing EV charging inspections; private service companies could provide inspections under the proposed framework.

Specific details Olson gave include: - There are about 6,000 electric vehicle charging stations in the state; some charge consumers and some are free. "There is no one ensuring that that charging station is providing an accurate volume of kilowatts and charging capacity to those cars," Olson said. - The bill sets testing frequency at 365 days for EV charging stations, consistent with other devices. - The bill updates the fee schedule in existing statute (revisor noted that section is relocated in the bill), and some fees would increase because Kansas’ current charges are substantially below regional averages; Olson gave an example that a weight set certification for up to 10 pounds currently costs $35 in Kansas versus a regional average she cited of $176.83.

Committee members asked for clarifications on whether free charging stations (for example at a hotel) would be subject to inspection; Olson said she would expect the consumer-protection principle to apply even for free stations, though the bill’s specifics could be addressed in regulation. Revisor Lawrence said the new rulemaking language in the bill largely reorganizes existing regulatory authority rather than creating wholly new rulemaking powers.

Several senators raised operational questions: how frequently equipment should be tested, whether in-state and out-of-state fee differentials would be permissible given commerce-clause concerns, whether utilities and grid conditions could affect the performance of charging stations, whether charging stations can identify vehicle VINs for billing or tracking, and how inspection services would be accessed in rural areas. Olson said many of those operational details would be handled in regulation or by private service companies that already perform some certification work.

The committee closed the hearing without taking a vote and moved to schedule other items for a subsequent meeting.