Enforcement options and agency budgets debated; MDA gives preliminary cost estimate for inspections

The Maryland Public Service Commission work group reviewed enforcement options for electric vehicle charging stations and asked state agencies to estimate the budgetary resources they would need to implement regulation.

Why it matters: enforcement design determines how compliance is achieved, who pays for inspections, and how regulators will handle underperforming chargers.

Members advanced a hierarchy approach: stricter enforcement and uptime requirements for DC fast chargers and lighter remedies (notifications, warnings or public reporting) for many level‑2 installations. Amanda Heiner (MDOT) cautioned that punitive penalties tied to funding could discourage providers from operating in Maryland; Michael Krauthammer and others urged careful calibration to avoid driving out small operators.

Allison of the Maryland Department of Agriculture provided concrete cost estimates for inspection capacity: acquiring a minimum set of testing standards for AC and DC chargers could be on the order of $400,000; additional vehicles and inspector hires could add roughly $200,000–$300,000 in capital and ongoing salary costs, and MDA estimated it would need 2–3 more inspectors to begin addressing chargers at scale. She also described the practical challenges of testing (transaction holds when using credit cards, busy ports at inspection time) and recommended exploring an industry or network function to facilitate testing.

The chair asked each state agency to return ballpark staffing, equipment and operating cost estimates within roughly one month to support the group’s October report to the legislature.

Ending: No enforcement regime was adopted. Agencies were directed to produce preliminary budgets and the group will bring EVSE representatives to the next meeting to discuss feasible enforcement approaches.