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Maryland work group backs tiered enforcement for public EV chargers, urges NEVI-aligned 97% uptime guidance
Summary
Members of the state's EV charging work group moved toward a tiered approach to enforcing uptime and reliability for publicly available chargers, recommending that implementing agencies use NEVI-aligned standards (including a 97% annual uptime target) for publicly funded sites while avoiding heavy-handed requirements for all privately funded chargers.
A state work group advising on electric vehicle charging policy spent its meeting narrowing how Maryland should measure and enforce "uptime" for publicly available chargers, moving toward a tiered approach that would focus stronger requirements and potential penalties on sites that received public funding.
The group's chair said the goal of the session was to give the legislature a near-final straw-man report. Members debated whether to subject "everyone" to mandatory uptime standards or to apply stronger enforcement only to chargers that had received government or ratepayer funding, and coalesced around a compromise that would empower an implementing agency to set details while aligning with national standards such as the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) guidance.
Why it matters: Maryland and other states are trying to balance two policy goals: ensuring drivers can rely on public chargers while not discouraging private investment in charging infrastructure. Several industry participants warned that overly prescriptive rules or immediate financial penalties could deter deployments; public-agency representatives pushed for clearer authorities and monitoring so taxpayers' dollars are protected.
Members debated the boundary between "publicly available" and "publicly funded." Scott Wilson, who outlined a reporting model based on consumer outage reports, described uptime accounting as an "outage clock" that runs from the time a problem is reported until it is repaired, minus a set of allowed exclusions adopted under NEVI. "The outage time has now started...that is what's going to go into the uptime measurement," he said, noting the group's cited goal of a 97% average annual uptime for sites subject to the framework.
Weights and Measures role and technician rules: Allison from the Maryland Department of Agriculture's Weights and Measures program said her agency already plans to license registered service agencies and technicians and expects to begin that registration process in January. She told the group that Handbook 44 specifications and the agency's consumer-complaint processes already provide a baseline for device accuracy and repair timelines, and that fines are generally a last resort after education and corrective actions.
Industry pushback and practicalities: Industry representatives, including an Electrify America spokesperson, argued that penalties and broad public reporting requirements can make the state less attractive for charger deployment. Michael Krauthammer, representing the Alliance for Transportation Electrification, described roaming credential mandates as "an extraordinarily complicated requirement" and urged the group to weigh logistical and financial impacts before imposing new mandates.
Other issues discussed: the group debated whether the state should require minimum power-output standards (many members recommended leaving equipment power levels to design and procurement specifications rather than statute), how to handle payment and roaming (the group favored prohibiting subscription-only access consistent with NEVI), and whether to require EV-specific installer certifications (the group generally favored market-based or equivalent-pathways rather than an immediate, universal mandate).
What the group did and next steps: Rather than finalize technical rules, the work group agreed to recommend that the implementing agency be empowered in statute to set uptime and reporting rules consistent with NEVI and other national standards, and to develop enforcement calibration (grace periods, progressive remedies) for publicly funded chargers. Chair said he will circulate a revised draft report and spreadsheet for member comment and said the full report will be refined at the next meeting.
The work group also asked agencies to provide high-level budget estimates for standing up monitoring and enforcement if the legislature chose to assign that role, with a two-week window for agencies to return draft numbers to the chair for incorporation into the report.
The meeting adjourned after members agreed to continue refining definitions in the coming days and to reconvene with a revised straw-man report.
