Lawmakers Hold a Series of Meetings to Map Out an EV Future for Georgia

After six meetings across four months, the Georgia Legislature’s Joint Study Committee on the Electrification of Transportation approved several recommendations but failed to come to a consensus on some of the most contentious issues surrounding the transition to EVs.

The recommendations, which could help direct legislation during the biennial session that starts in January, cover some of the basic infrastructure issues and include:

• Requiring commercial EV charging stations to charge by the kilowatt hour instead of the current protocol of charging based on the time spent connected to a charger. This requirement recognizes the fact that some chargers take longer than others to provide the same level of charge.
• Requiring state licensing and inspection of commercial charging stations, with the suggestion that the Georgia Department of Agriculture be responsible. The Department of Agriculture’s Fuel and Measures Division handles this function for the state’s gas pumps, as well as pumps for other fuels.
• Making any future tax on EVs mileage-based, to equate with the amount drivers of gas-powered cars pay in gasoline taxes. Georgia drivers pay 29 cents a gallon in state gas taxes and 18 cents in federal taxes. (The state gas tax remains suspended under the Governor’s orders.) Gas taxes pay for roadway construction and maintenance.
• The Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) in 2023 will launch a voluntary mileage-fee pilot program. The study committee recommended that GDOT report its findings by the end of the year.

One main issue on which the study committee could not reach a consensus was the question of allowing utilities into the charging station business. Convenience stores and other commercial enterprises that are likely to build charging stations argue that utilities would have an unfair advantage in that they could pass along the investment costs for charging stations to their ratepayers, undercutting the market price per kWh.

This and other issues will be taken up in the legislative process as committees and legislators work through proposed bills during the biennial session.