EV Submetering Has Arrived...and Saves Money!

Three years after the CPUC decided that California utilities must allow customers to submeter EV charging, Gridtractor has enrolled and enabled the first customers to take advantage of attractive EV charging rates without installing a new utility service. This is the first time in California that third-party providers are approved to acquire, process and deliver metering data for utility billing.

What Is EV Submetering and Why It Matters

EV submetering means installing meters for EV charge points and measuring their usage on a new, dedicated service account independently of the host facility. The bill for the EV charge points is generated from the submetered usage; the bill for the host site is generated by subtracting submetered charging usage from usage measured by its existing, "primary" meter. Submeter deployment, enrollment, data acquisition and delivery to the utility are managed by an approved Meter Data Management Agent (MDMA) like Gridtractor.

How EV Submetering Saves Money

Submetering provides financial and operational benefits:

• Demand charge reduction - even low charger utilization can spike host site demand charges. Submetering eliminates the impact of charging on host site demand charges.

• Attractive rates - special rates are available for EV charging that charge less during typical charging windows, lowering the overall cost of EV charging. These are only available if EV charging is metered separately.

• Cost accounting for charging - submetered billing enables third party charge point operators or different departments within an organization to receive and manage their respective utility bills, without having to negotiate and manage how EV charging is billed.

• Separate pilots and programs - a variety of offerings, like flex pricing pilots and demand response, may be a fit for the host facility or charging, but not both. Submetering can enable independent selection of the right options for the host facility and charge points. There are exclusions so this should be checked carefully at the time of enrollment.

Implementing EV Submetering: Practical Steps

Gridtractor helps evaluate and implement submetering efficiently for you:

• Assess your current setup: Identify how many chargers you have, electrical infrastructure, and host facility rate. Confirm eligibility with the utility.

• Specify the right submetering hardware: Devise the metering plan that is right for your chargers and electrical infrastructure. We ship them to you pre-configured and ready to install.

  Install submeters professionally: With our guidance, your in-house or contract electrician installs the meter(s) and the devices connect to the Gridtractor servers.

• Enroll on the submetered rate: We pre-populate the enrollment forms for you to sign and then submit them on your behalf.

Take Control of Your EV Energy Costs Today

EV submetering is a powerful tool for reducing EV charging costs and ensure that adding on-site charging doesn't raise host site utility bills. Let's talk to see if it's a fit for your organization.

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