An Overview of the BGE EVsmart Program
As the United States continues its slow, steady transition toward electric vehicles, more entities are offering financial incentives to speed things along. For individual applicants and businesses, some of the more interesting options have come from a surprising source: their utility provider.
Among these helpful utility providers is Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE), the company that serves a little over a fifth of the state of Maryland. They've launched a simple program called "EVsmart" with options for both residential and commercial customers. In this guide, we will be covering the Commercial Charger Rebate portion of the EVsmart program.
For Multifamily, Fleet, and Workplace Customers
BGE's Commercial Customer Charger rebate applies to most of its commercial customers.
First, to be eligible, applicants must be active BGE electric customer and property owners. Second, you must purchase and install an eligible Level 2 or DC fast charger on their eligible product list. Additionally, applicants will be required to provide BGE with charging data, as well as the costs the EV drivers pay to charge their vehicles.
So, those are some of the eligibility requirements. How do you actually get this done? Well, first off, you must fill out the online rebate application within 30 days of installation. Along with this application, you'll need a copy of the sales receipt, the installation invoice and a photo of the equipment serial number. If you own a fleet, you need to add a copy of the vehicle's registration, while nonprofits need to add evidence of 501(c) tax-exempt status.
Got all that done? Good! Then you can expect to receive up to $30,000 per installation site. Note the "up to" in that sentence. The rebate will be hard-capped at the total project cost to prevent people from making a full profit off the rebate.
There are some additional caveats, however, for workplace and fleet customers. For fleet properties, the customer must have at least 5 electric vehicles registered in Maryland. As mentioned above, you'll need to provide a copy of the vehicle's registration. And, for both fleet and workplaces, rebates will only apply to Maryland small businesses or nonprofits. This is to prevent huge corporations with money to burn from abusing this rebate.
The BGE EVsmart Program’s Potential Impact
While the BGE EVsmart program does offer a rebate for residential customers, the rest of the program is a huge boon for the state of Maryland and for commercial customers.
This is because increasing residential adoption of EV chargers is not the quickest way to speed along the transition to renewables. Rather, most drivers are afraid of being unable to find a charger away from home. Offering a rebate that encourages businesses to provide EV charging infrastructure can allay the fears that many prospective EV drivers have.
This incentive program could go a long way toward encouraging Maryland to catch up with states, like California, that have already created strong EV infrastructure. Especially for small businesses and nonprofits, a $30,000 rebate could pay for the entirety of an installation, turning the prospect of adding such equipment into a nearly risk-free situation.
Looking at it more broadly, BGE's incentive could also affect neighboring states, due to the close proximity of the Northeastern U.S.. The positive net effect of charging incentives is growing. In general, the U.S. is making major progress through its Made-in-America National Network of EV Chargers.
The fact is, we've already seen how rebates affect the adoption of new technology, including EV infrastructure. If history is any guide, the BGE EVsmart program promises to be a good example for other utility companies. To learn more about how we can help with the Commercial Charger Rebate through Baltimore Gas and Electric’s EVsmart program, contact EV Connect today!
Sources
BGE - Company Information
BGE EVsmart - Program Eligibility and Requirements
BGE - Riders