Existing law prohibits requiring a person desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station, as defined, that requires payment of a fee from paying a subscription fee in order to use the station, or requiring the person to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. Existing law authorizes an electric vehicle charging station to offer services on a subscription- or membership-only basis if the station allows nonsubscribers or nonmembers to use the station through a contactless payment method that accepts major credit and debit cards, as specified, and either an automated toll-free telephone number or a short message system (SMS) that provides the customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment. Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, to add to or subtract from those required payment methods, as specified.

This bill would instead authorize the commission to modify, add to, or subtract from those required payment methods, as appropriate in light of changing technologies or cost impacts.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44268.2 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 533 to be operative only if this bill and SB 533 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law prohibits requiring a person desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station, as defined, that requires payment of a fee from paying a subscription fee in order to use the station, or requiring the person to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. Existing law authorizes an electric vehicle charging station to offer services on a subscription- or membership-only basis if the station allows nonsubscribers or nonmembers to use the station through a contactless payment method that accepts major credit and debit cards, as specified, and either an automated toll-free telephone number or a short message system (SMS) that provides the customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment. Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, to add to or subtract from those required payment methods, as specified.

This bill would instead authorize the commission to modify, add to, or subtract from those required payment methods, as appropriate in light of changing technologies or cost impacts.

This bill would incorporate additional changes to Section 44268.2 of the Health and Safety Code proposed by SB 533 to be operative only if this bill and SB 533 are enacted and this bill is enacted last.

Existing law prohibits requiring a person desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station, as defined, that requires payment of a fee from paying a subscription fee in order to use the station, or requiring the person to obtain membership in any club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. Existing law authorizes an electric vehicle charging station to offer services on a subscription- or membership-only basis if the station allows nonsubscribers or nonmembers to use the station through a contactless payment method that accepts major credit and debit cards, as specified, and either an automated toll-free telephone number or a short message system (SMS) that provides the customer with the option to initiate a charging session and submit payment. Existing law authorizes the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission, by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, to add to or subtract from those required payment methods, as specified.

This bill would instead authorize the commission to modify, add to, or subtract from those required payment methods, as appropriate in light of changing technologies or cost impacts.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC), to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations. Existing law requires that the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards only apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, apply for a minimum of 6 years, and apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024.

This bill would delete the latter requirement. The bill would instead require the above uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024, to also apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that were installed with moneys from specified consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice, as specified. The bill would additionally require the Energy Commission, in consultation with PUC, to develop, by January 1, 2027, uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards that apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed after January 1, 2018, 2021, but before January 1, 2024, that either received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers or were installed with moneys from specified consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to consider specified factors when developing these uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards. The bill would prohibit the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards from requiring any data from electric vehicle chargers and charging stations for any time period before the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards take effect to be provided to the Energy Commission, the PUC, or any other entity.

Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with PUC, to adopt tools to increase charging station uptime, as provided, and, by January 1, 2025, set standards for how specified charging stations are required to notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure.

This bill would require the Energy Commission, in consultation with PUC, to set standards for how the above-described charging stations are required to notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to adopt regulations establishing an administrative enforcement process for a violation of a regulation adopted pursuant to that requirement and for the assessment of an administrative civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation, except as provided. provided, and would require that process to include a reasonable amount of time for the violation to be remedied before administrative penalties may be assessed. The bill would also authorize the Energy Commission, if it finds that a violation of specified regulations has occurred or is threatening to occur, to refer the matter to the Attorney General to petition a court to enjoin the violation. The bill would authorize the court to grant prohibitory or mandatory injunctive relief and assess a civil penalty, as provided. The bill would require that those penalties and other costs be deposited into the General Fund.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, Commission (PUC), to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations. Existing law requires that the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards only apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, apply for a minimum of 6 years, and apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024.

This bill would delete the latter requirement. The bill would instead require, for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards to apply for a minimum of 6 years unless the Energy Commission decides a longer time span is more appropriate. require the above uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024, to also apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that were installed with moneys from specified consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice, as specified. The bill would additionally require the Energy Commission, in consultation with PUC, to develop, by January 1, 2027, uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards that apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2024, that either received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers or were installed with moneys from specified consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice, as specified. The bill would require the Energy Commission to consider specified factors when developing these uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards.

Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, PUC, to adopt tools to increase charging station uptime, as provided, and, by January 1, 2025, set standards for how specified charging stations are required to notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure.

This bill would instead require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, PUC, to adopt tools to increase uptime for all charging stations and set standards for how all the above-described charging stations are required to notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to adopt regulations establishing an administrative enforcement process for a violation of a regulation adopted pursuant to that requirement and for the assessment of an administrative civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation, as provided. The bill would also authorize the Energy Commission, if it finds that a violation of specified regulations has occurred or is threatening to occur, to refer the matter to the Attorney General to petition a court to enjoin the violation. The bill would authorize the court to grant prohibitory or mandatory injunctive relief and assess a civil penalty, as provided. The bill would require that those penalties and other costs be deposited into the General Fund.

Existing law requires the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission (Energy Commission), in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations. Existing law requires that the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards only apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, apply for a minimum of 6 years, and apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024.

This bill would delete the latter requirement. The bill would instead require, for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, the uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards to apply for a minimum of 6 years unless the Energy Commission decides a longer time span is more appropriate.

Existing law requires the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, to adopt tools to increase charging station uptime, as provided, and, by January 1, 2025, set standards for how specified charging stations are required to notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure.

This bill would instead require the Energy Commission, in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission, to adopt tools to increase uptime for all charging stations and set standards for how all charging stations are required to notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure. The bill would authorize the Energy Commission to adopt regulations establishing an administrative enforcement process for a violation of a regulation adopted pursuant to that requirement and for the assessment of an administrative civil penalty not to exceed $2,500 for each violation, as provided. The bill would also authorize the Energy Commission, if it finds that a violation of specified regulations has occurred or is threatening to occur, to refer the matter to the Attorney General to petition a court to enjoin the violation. The bill would authorize the court to grant prohibitory or mandatory injunctive relief and assess a civil penalty, as provided. The bill would require that those penalties and other costs be deposited into the General Fund.

CONCURRENCE IN SENATE AMENDMENTS

CSA1 Bill Id:AB 1423

Author:(Irwin)

As Amended Ver:September 3, 2025

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to modify requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charger payment systems.

Senate Amendments

1. Authorize the CEC to modify the payment methods required for EV chargers.
2. Allow the CEC to adopt changes to EV charger payment methods before January 1, 2028.
3. Require the CEC to consider cost impacts of EV charger payment methods when adopting or modifying rules.
4. Includes chaptering language to align with SB 533.

COMMENTS

In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20, mandating that 100% of cars sold in California by 2035 be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To help meet its ambitious climate goals and encourage the adoption of ZEVs, the state provides incentives to develop a robust network of EV charging stations.

With an expected 15.2 million EVs on the road by 2035, the CEC projects that over 2 million additional EV chargers will need to be built in the next decade. To date, the CEC reports that over 170,000 total public and shared private EV chargers are available to charge the over

1 million light-duty passenger ZEVS (including plug-in hybrids) currently on the road. Despite the fact that one in four cars sold in the state in 2023 were ZEVs, the majority of consumers have real concerns about whether they will be able to find a nearby, working EV charging station if they buy an EV. As the state continues to push for more and more ZEVs, ensuring that the supporting EV charging infrastructure is accessible and reliable remains a critical hurdle.

Charging an electric car is unlike refilling a gasoline car. In contrast to the average 10-minute stop at a gas station, the length of time required to fully charge an EV can range from 30 minutes to several hours overnight depending on the type of charger. Although 100,000 charging stations have been built, many of these stations are difficult to find, scarce in rural areas, and frequently non-operational. If a working charging station can be found, the station may not have the proper connector to charge the ZEV in question, and the cost of the charging session and the speed at which the station will dispense electricity may not be clear.

EV Charger Payment Methods. In earlier stages of EV charger deployment, few rules governing drivers' ability to pay for charging existed. Many early stage EV charging networks established a membership structure that required EV drivers to join a membership in order to pay for EV charging. In some cases, the charging networks required consumers to pay a fee for membership. While some networks allowed non-members to pay for charging using other methods, EV drivers needing to reliably use a variety of companies' chargers were forced to become members of many network clubs. To address EV adoption barriers associated with the EV charger “club card” and membership programs, the Legislature passed SB 454 (Corbett, Chapter 418, Statutes of 2013), also known as the EV Charging Stations Open Access Act. The bill prohibited EV charging networks from requiring consumers to join memberships in order to pay for EV charging and required EV chargers that require payment for charging to facilitate payment through credit card, mobile technology, or both. The bill also authorized CARB to adopt regulations regarding EV charger payment systems. Since the enactment of SB 454, the statute regarding EV charger payment systems has been revised several times. Simultaneously, CARB adopted regulations requiring EV chargers to transact payment using credit card readers. Many EV charging networks expressed concerns that traditional credit card readers were costly and more likely to experience malfunctions in outdoor public chargers. In 2023, budget legislation reassigned the authority to regulate EV charger payment systems from CARB to the CEC, required EV chargers to offer a contactless payment option for using major credit cards to pay for charging, and prevented the CEC from revising this requirement until January 1, 2028.

The transfer of charger payment system regulatory authority from CARB to the CEC has created a system of fractured regulatory compliance for charger payment systems. Under existing law, chargers installed prior to July 10, 2023, may be subject to CARB's rules, which required most public chargers to have a credit card payment system with a chip reader installed on the machine. Chargers installed after July 10, 2023, may use a contactless credit card payment system like a tap-and-pay system or near field communication. However, some charging providers, like Tesla, have also been caught in a legal gray area where it is unclear whether they meet any of these definitions because Tesla only recently started entering into arrangements to open its charging network to vehicles from other manufacturers. While regulatory changes are needed to address these inconsistencies and update payment systems to reflect market trends and technologies, existing law prevents the CEC from making changes until January 1, 2028.

This bill allows the CEC to modify requirements for EV charger payment systems and adopt those rules sooner than January 1, 2028. This bill could enable the CEC to clarify the existing confusion regarding the extent to which varying payment method requirements apply to different charging providers. This bill may also allow the CEC to adopt rules that would eliminate certain credit card payment systems from varying types of EV chargers. Under existing law, Level 1 and 2 chargers are required to offer at least one contactless credit card payment method and the option to pay via text message or a toll free call. DCFCs installed after July 10, 2023, must also provide the option to initiate a charge through plug-and-charge transactions. Plug-and-charge technology is facilitated through communications protocols between the charger and a car, enabling the car to transact the charge without use of a separate payment system. Manufacturers are increasingly including plug-and-charge capabilities in EVs, including Ford's Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. However, not all EV models have plug-and-charge capabilities. While EV charging companies have financial incentives to ensure that chargers can complete as many transactions as possible to increase revenue from the charging, this bill may enable the CEC to establish rules that would lead charging networks to largely shift towards initiating charging through payments via mobile application payment systems. To the extent that the CEC eliminates requirements for EV chargers to include contactless payment systems, drivers may be faced with requirements to download a variety of different applications on their phone in order to pay for charging across the state in lieu of using a text message or toll-free system.

According to the Author

"California has set ambitious climate and greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector. Governor Newsom's Executive Order N-79-20 establishes a goal to transition California away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This massive undertaking is lagging behind and will require a rapid and large-scale transition to electric vehicles and a significant investment in charging infrastructure. California has spent over $1.7 billion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To date, only 150,000 of the estimated 2.1 million chargers needed have been deployed. Of publicly available chargers, J.D. Power has found that they are not functioning 20 to 30 percent of the time. Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle."

Arguments in Support

According to Plug in America, "as the national consumer voice for plug-in electric vehicles (EVs), Plug In America promotes policies and programs that drive access to affordable and accessible EVs and charging. EVs save consumers money, promote clean air, and can be powered with clean, affordable, domestic electricity. An electrified transportation sector is a major element of the solution that will enable California to meet its emissions reduction goals.

Plug In America conducts regular surveys of EV drivers to understand their experience with EVs and charging. Our surveys nationally and in California show that EV drivers overwhelmingly love their vehicles, and experience with an EV decreases concerns about the technology. We are working to continue to ensure that more drivers can access EVs to experience their many benefits and that drivers have options and consistency in how they charge their vehicles.

We support this bill's intention to provide the CEC with more immediate authorization to set minimum required payment standards for charging infrastructure. The agency has the in-house subject matter expertise to understand driver needs and technological advancements. Allowing the CEC to set the requirements will help better match the needs of EV drivers with the appropriate payment methods as they become ubiquitous in the market, like plug-and-charge technology."

Arguments in Opposition

None on file.

FISCAL COMMENTS

Unknown.

VOTES:

ASM TRANSPORTATION: 14-1-1

YES: Wilson, Davies, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Carrillo, Harabedian, Hart, Jackson, Lackey, Lowenthal, Macedo, Ransom, Rogers, Ward

NO: Hoover

ABS, ABST OR NV: Papan

ASM UTILITIES AND ENERGY: 18-0-0

YES: Petrie-Norris, Patterson, Boerner, Calderon, Chen, Davies, Fong, Mark González, Harabedian, Hart, Irwin, Papan, Rogers, Schiavo, Solache, Ta, Wallis, Zbur

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-0-1

YES: Wicks, Arambula, Calderon, Caloza, Dixon, Elhawary, Fong, Mark González, Hart, Pacheco, Pellerin, Solache, Ta, Tangipa

ABS, ABST OR NV: Sanchez

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0-1

YES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bauer‑Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Caloza, Carrillo, Castillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Ellis, Flora, Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Jeff Gonzalez, Mark González, Hadwick, Haney, Harabedian, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Kalra, Krell, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Macedo, McKinnor, Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Patel, Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Ransom, Celeste Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, Zbur, Rivas

ABS, ABST OR NV: Muratsuchi

UPDATED

VERSION: September 3, 2025

CONSULTANT: Aaron Kurz / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0001893

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 1423

Author: Irwin (D)

Amended: 9/3/25 in Senate

Vote: 21

SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 12-1, 7/7/25

AYES: Becker, Allen, Archuleta, Arreguín, Ashby, Caballero, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Limón, McNerney, Rubio, Stern

NOES: Wahab

NO VOTE RECORDED: Ochoa Bogh, Dahle, Grove, Strickland

SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: 15-0, 7/8/25

AYES: Cortese, Strickland, Archuleta, Arreguín, Blakespear, Cervantes, Dahle, Gonzalez, Grayson, Limón, Menjivar, Richardson, Seyarto, Umberg, Valladares

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/25 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Transportation electrification: electric vehicle charging stations: payment methods

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to modify requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charger payment systems.

Senate Floor Amendments of 9/3/25 address chaptering issues between this bill and SB 533 (Richardson).

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes payment and billing standards for EV chargers. Provides the CEC with the authority to implement and adopt EV charger payment and billing standards, starting on July 10, 2023. Existing law specifies that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has the authority to enforce EV charger payment and billing standards until the CEC adopts new payment and billing standards. Existing law specifies that any standards adopted by the CEC will supersede any regulations adopted by CARB. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
2. Prohibits the CEC from modifying EV charger payment requirements before January 1, 2028.
3. Prohibits an EV charger owner-operator from requiring consumers to pay a subscription fee or obtain membership in a club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
4. Requires public disclosure of the total actual charges for using an EV charging station at the point of sale, including any additional network roaming charges for non-members. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
5. Requires chargers that require payment to facilitate payment with major credit cards using a contactless payment method. For the purposes of this requirement “contactless payment method” means a secure method for consumers to purchase services using a debit card, credit card, smartcard, or another payment device, by using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and near-field communication (NFC). Chargers must also provide a toll free phone or text system to allow the customer to initiate and pay for charging. Under existing law, the CEC may modify payment methodologies in light of changing technologies through regulations. These regulations may not take effect sooner than January 1, 2028. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
6. Requires publicly accessible direct current fast chargers (DCFCs) installed on or after July 10, 2023, to offer plug and charge payment capabilities. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)

This bill:

1. Authorizes the CEC to modify the payment methods required for EV chargers.
2. Allows the CEC to adopt changes to EV charger payment methods before January 1, 2028.
3. Requires the CEC to consider cost impacts of EV charger payment methods when adopting or modifying rules.

1. Incorporates chaptering language to address potential conflicts between this bill and SB 533 in the event that both bills are passed and signed into law.

Background

Instant replay: Legislature has passed multiple measures in recent years aimed at addressing EV charger reliability. Charger reliability concerns are a subset of larger consumer concerns about charger availability. EV drivers’ range anxiety is exacerbated by the lack of ubiquitously available EV charging. While many EV homeowners charge at home, renters and EV owners in multifamily dwellings are more likely to lack opportunities to charge at home. Additionally, EV drivers with longer commutes may experience a scarcity of charging opportunities in certain areas, increasing their reliance on a small number of publicly available chargers.

Several reports show that publicly accessible chargers that have received state funds are not functioning as reported. A 2022 report by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley indicated that charger outages and malfunctions reduce charger availability significantly. The report studied all publicly accessible DCFCs in the greater Bay Area and found that only 72.5% of the chargers had functional electric vehicle service equipment.

To address these concerns, the Legislature passed AB 2061 (Ting, Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022), which required the CEC to define uptime for EV chargers, set uptime recordkeeping and reporting, and assess EV charger uptime every two years. In 2023, the Legislature passed AB 126 (Reyes, Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023), which extended the operation of the Clean Transportation Program (CTP) and required the CEC to set standards for how stations receiving CTP grants and ratepayer funding will notify customers about the availability and accessibility of public chargers.

Bill allows the CEC to modify the types of payment systems an EV charger must include. In earlier stages of EV charger deployment, few rules governing drivers’ ability to pay for charging existed. Many early stage EV charging networks established a membership structure that required EV drivers to join a membership in order to pay for EV charging. In some cases, the charging networks required consumers to pay a fee for membership. While some networks allowed non-members to pay for charging using other methods, EV drivers needing to reliably use a variety of companies’ chargers were forced to become members of many network clubs. To address EV adoption barriers associated with the EV charger “club card” and membership programs, the Legislature passed SB 454 (Corbett, Chapter 418, Statutes of 2013), also known as the EV Charging Stations Open Access Act. The bill prohibited EV charging networks from requiring consumers to join memberships in order to pay for EV charging and required EV chargers that require payment for charging to facilitate payment through credit card, mobile technology, or both. The bill also authorized CARB to adopt regulations regarding EV charger payment systems. Since the enactment of SB 454, the statute regarding EV charger payment systems has been revised several times. Simultaneously, CARB adopted regulations requiring EV chargers to transact payment using credit card readers. Many EV charging networks expressed concerns that traditional credit card readers were costly and more likely to experience malfunctions in outdoor public chargers. In 2023, budget legislation reassigned the authority to regulate EV charger payment systems from CARB to the CEC, required EV chargers to offer a contactless payment option for using major credit cards to pay for charging, and prevented the CEC from revising this requirement until January 1, 2028.

The transfer of charger payment system regulatory authority from CARB to the CEC has created a system of fractured regulatory compliance for charger payment systems. Under existing law, chargers installed prior to July 10, 2023, may be subject to CARB’s rules, which required most public chargers to have a credit card payment system with a chip reader installed on the machine. Chargers installed after July 10, 2023, may use a contactless credit card payment system like a tap-and-pay system or near field communication. However, some charging providers, like Tesla, have also been caught in a legal gray area where it is unclear whether they meet any of these definitions because Tesla only recently started entering into arrangements to open its charging network to vehicles from other manufacturers. While regulatory changes are needed to address these inconsistencies and update payment systems to reflect market trends and technologies, existing law prevents the CEC from making changes until January 1, 2028.

This bill allows the CEC to modify requirements for EV charger payment systems and adopt those rules sooner than January 1, 2028. This bill could enable the CEC to clarify the existing confusion regarding the extent to which varying payment method requirements apply to different charging providers. This bill may also allow the CEC to adopt rules that would eliminate certain credit card payment systems from varying types of EV chargers. Under existing law, Level 1 and 2 chargers are required to offer at least one contactless credit card payment method and the option to pay via text message or a toll free call. DCFCs installed after July 10, 2023, must also provide the option to initiate a charge through plug-and-charge transactions. Plug-and-charge technology is facilitated through communications protocols between the charger and a car, enabling the car to transact the charge without use of a separate payment system. Manufacturers are increasingly including plug-and-charge capabilities in EVs, including Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. However, not all EV models have plug-and-charge capabilities. While EV charging companies have financial incentives to ensure that chargers can complete as many transactions as possible to increase revenue from the charging, this bill may enable the CEC to establish rules that would lead charging networks to largely shift towards initiating charging through payments via mobile application payment systems. To the extent that the CEC eliminates requirements for EV chargers to include contactless payment systems, drivers may be faced with requirements to download a variety of different applications on their phone in order to pay for charging across the state in lieu of using a text message or toll-free system.

Related/Prior Legislation

SB 533 (Richardson) of 2025, allows EV charging stations at certain arenas to require customers to use an internet-based application to pay for charging services. The bill is currently pending on the Assembly Floor.

AB 2697 (Irwin, Chapter 735, Statutes of 2024) clarified the CEC’s authority to adopt roaming standards for EV charging networks. The bill specified that any roaming standards adopted by the CEC shall only apply to major EV charging network operators, and the standards must enable network managers to choose between different mechanisms to establish roaming agreements.

AB 1349 (Irwin) of 2023, would have required EV charger owners and operators that accept state grants to provide certain data about their chargers and charging network to third-party software developers for free, as specified. The bill died in the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications.

AB 126 (Reyes, Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023) modified and extended the operation of the CTP until January 1, 2035. The bill also required the CEC to set standards by January 1, 2025, regarding how EV charging stations receiving CTP or ratepayer funds will notify customers about the availability and accessibility of chargers.

SB 123 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 52, Statutes of 2023) made various changes to law regarding energy resources. The bill also reassigned duties to implement and enforce EV payment and billing standards from CARB to the CEC. The bill specified that chargers installed after the bill’s enactment must offer a contactless method for accepting major credit and debit cards. For the purposes of this requirement “contactless payment method” means a secure method for consumers to purchase services using a debit card, credit card, smartcard, or another payment device, by using RFID technology and NFC.

AB 2061 (Ting, Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022) required the CEC to define uptime for EV chargers, set uptime recordkeeping and reporting, and assess EV charger uptime every two years.

AB 1424 (Berman) of 2019, would have modified credit card payment requirements for EV chargers and delayed additional rulemaking on EV chargers. The bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2127 (Ting, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2018) required the CEC to conduct a statewide assessment every two years of EV charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least five million ZEVs on California roads by 2030, and of reducing emissions of GHG to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

SB 454 (Corbett, Chapter 418, Statutes of 2013) established the EV Charging Stations Open Access Act, which prohibited EV charger owner-operators from requiring individuals to join clubs or pay subscription fees to use a charger. The bill required chargers to accept credit card payment and authorized CARB to establish interoperable billing standards for EV chargers if a national organization has not adopted such standards by 2015.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

SUPPORT: (Verified 9/3/25)

AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Electric Transportation Coalition

Center for Sustainable Energy
ChargePoint, Inc.
Electric Era Technologies, Inc.
Electric Vehicle Charging Association
Plug in America

Rivian Automotive, LLC

Union of Concerned Scientists

OPPOSITION: (Verified 9/3/25)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author:

California has set ambitious climate and greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-79-20 establishes a goal to transition California away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This massive undertaking is lagging behind and will require a rapid and large-scale transition to electric vehicles and a significant investment in charging infrastructure. California has spent over $1.7 billion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To date, only 150,000 of the estimated 2.1 million chargers needed have been deployed. Of publicly available chargers, J.D. Power has found that they are not functioning 20 to 30 percent of the time. Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/25

AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Caloza, Carrillo, Castillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Ellis, Flora, Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Jeff Gonzalez, Mark González, Hadwick, Haney, Harabedian, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Kalra, Krell, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Macedo, McKinnor, Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Patel, Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Ransom, Celeste Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, Zbur, Rivas

NO VOTE RECORDED: Muratsuchi

Prepared by: Sarah Smith / E., U. & C. / (916) 651-4107

9/6/25 10:36:40

**** END ****

 THIRD READING  

Bill No: AB 1423

Author: Irwin (D)

Amended: 7/10/25 in Senate

Vote: 21

SENATE ENERGY, U. & C. COMMITTEE: 12-1, 7/7/25

AYES: Becker, Allen, Archuleta, Arreguín, Ashby, Caballero, Gonzalez, Hurtado, Limón, McNerney, Rubio, Stern

NOES: Wahab

NO VOTE RECORDED: Ochoa Bogh, Dahle, Grove, Strickland

SENATE TRANSPORTATION COMMITTEE: 15-0, 7/8/25

AYES: Cortese, Strickland, Archuleta, Arreguín, Blakespear, Cervantes, Dahle, Gonzalez, Grayson, Limón, Menjivar, Richardson, Seyarto, Umberg, Valladares

SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE: Senate Rule 28.8

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/25 - See last page for vote

SUBJECT: Transportation electrification: electric vehicle charging stations: payment methods

SOURCE: Author

DIGEST:

This bill authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to modify requirements for electric vehicle (EV) charger payment systems.

ANALYSIS:

Existing law:

1. Establishes payment and billing standards for EV chargers. Provides the CEC with the authority to implement and adopt EV charger payment and billing standards, starting on July 10, 2023. Existing law specifies that the California Air Resources Board (CARB) has the authority to enforce EV charger payment and billing standards until the CEC adopts new payment and billing standards. Existing law specifies that any standards adopted by the CEC will supersede any regulations adopted by CARB. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
2. Prohibits the CEC from modifying EV charger payment requirements before January 1, 2028.
3. Prohibits an EV charger owner-operator from requiring consumers to pay a subscription fee or obtain membership in a club, association, or organization as a condition of using the station. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
4. Requires public disclosure of the total actual charges for using an EV charging station at the point of sale, including any additional network roaming charges for non-members. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
5. Requires chargers that require payment to facilitate payment with major credit cards using a contactless payment method. For the purposes of this requirement “contactless payment method” means a secure method for consumers to purchase services using a debit card, credit card, smartcard, or another payment device, by using radio frequency identification (RFID) technology and near-field communication (NFC). Chargers must also provide a toll free phone or text system to allow the customer to initiate and pay for charging. Under existing law, the CEC may modify payment methodologies in light of changing technologies through regulations. These regulations may not take effect sooner than January 1, 2028. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)
6. Requires publicly accessible direct current fast chargers (DCFCs) installed on or after July 10, 2023, to offer plug and charge payment capabilities. (Health and Safety Code §44268.2)

This bill:

1. Authorizes the CEC to modify the payment methods required for EV chargers.
2. Allows the CEC to adopt changes to EV charger payment methods before January 1, 2028.
3. Requires the CEC to consider cost impacts of EV charger payment methods when adopting or modifying rules.

Background

Instant replay: Legislature has passed multiple measures in recent years aimed at addressing EV charger reliability. Charger reliability concerns are a subset of larger consumer concerns about charger availability. EV drivers’ range anxiety is exacerbated by the lack of ubiquitously available EV charging. While many EV homeowners charge at home, renters and EV owners in multifamily dwellings are more likely to lack opportunities to charge at home. Additionally, EV drivers with longer commutes may experience a scarcity of charging opportunities in certain areas, increasing their reliance on a small number of publicly available chargers.

Several reports show that publicly accessible chargers that have received state funds are not functioning as reported. A 2022 report by researchers at the University of California at Berkeley indicated that charger outages and malfunctions reduce charger availability significantly. The report studied all publicly accessible DCFCs in the greater Bay Area and found that only 72.5% of the chargers had functional electric vehicle service equipment.

To address these concerns, the Legislature passed AB 2061 (Ting, Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022), which required the CEC to define uptime for EV chargers, set uptime recordkeeping and reporting, and assess EV charger uptime every two years. In 2023, the Legislature passed AB 126 (Reyes, Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023), which extended the operation of the Clean Transportation Program (CTP) and required the CEC to set standards for how stations receiving CTP grants and ratepayer funding will notify customers about the availability and accessibility of public chargers.

Bill allows the CEC to modify the types of payment systems an EV charger must include. In earlier stages of EV charger deployment, few rules governing drivers’ ability to pay for charging existed. Many early stage EV charging networks established a membership structure that required EV drivers to join a membership in order to pay for EV charging. In some cases, the charging networks required consumers to pay a fee for membership. While some networks allowed non-members to pay for charging using other methods, EV drivers needing to reliably use a variety of companies’ chargers were forced to become members of many network clubs. To address EV adoption barriers associated with the EV charger “club card” and membership programs, the Legislature passed SB 454 (Corbett, Chapter 418, Statutes of 2013), also known as the EV Charging Stations Open Access Act. The bill prohibited EV charging networks from requiring consumers to join memberships in order to pay for EV charging and required EV chargers that require payment for charging to facilitate payment through credit card, mobile technology, or both. The bill also authorized CARB to adopt regulations regarding EV charger payment systems. Since the enactment of SB 454, the statute regarding EV charger payment systems has been revised several times. Simultaneously, CARB adopted regulations requiring EV chargers to transact payment using credit card readers. Many EV charging networks expressed concerns that traditional credit card readers were costly and more likely to experience malfunctions in outdoor public chargers. In 2023, budget legislation reassigned the authority to regulate EV charger payment systems from CARB to the CEC, required EV chargers to offer a contactless payment option for using major credit cards to pay for charging, and prevented the CEC from revising this requirement until January 1, 2028.

The transfer of charger payment system regulatory authority from CARB to the CEC has created a system of fractured regulatory compliance for charger payment systems. Under existing law, chargers installed prior to July 10, 2023, may be subject to CARB’s rules, which required most public chargers to have a credit card payment system with a chip reader installed on the machine. Chargers installed after July 10, 2023, may use a contactless credit card payment system like a tap-and-pay system or near field communication. However, some charging providers, like Tesla, have also been caught in a legal gray area where it is unclear whether they meet any of these definitions because Tesla only recently started entering into arrangements to open its charging network to vehicles from other manufacturers. While regulatory changes are needed to address these inconsistencies and update payment systems to reflect market trends and technologies, existing law prevents the CEC from making changes until January 1, 2028.

This bill allows the CEC to modify requirements for EV charger payment systems and adopt those rules sooner than January 1, 2028. This bill could enable the CEC to clarify the existing confusion regarding the extent to which varying payment method requirements apply to different charging providers. This bill may also allow the CEC to adopt rules that would eliminate certain credit card payment systems from varying types of EV chargers. Under existing law, Level 1 and 2 chargers are required to offer at least one contactless credit card payment method and the option to pay via text message or a toll free call. DCFCs installed after July 10, 2023, must also provide the option to initiate a charge through plug-and-charge transactions. Plug-and-charge technology is facilitated through communications protocols between the charger and a car, enabling the car to transact the charge without use of a separate payment system. Manufacturers are increasingly including plug-and-charge capabilities in EVs, including Ford’s Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning. However, not all EV models have plug-and-charge capabilities. While EV charging companies have financial incentives to ensure that chargers can complete as many transactions as possible to increase revenue from the charging, this bill may enable the CEC to establish rules that would lead charging networks to largely shift towards initiating charging through payments via mobile application payment systems. To the extent that the CEC eliminates requirements for EV chargers to include contactless payment systems, drivers may be faced with requirements to download a variety of different applications on their phone in order to pay for charging across the state in lieu of using a text message or toll-free system.

Related/Prior Legislation

AB 2697 (Irwin, Chapter 735, Statutes of 2024) clarified the CEC’s authority to adopt roaming standards for EV charging networks. The bill specified that any roaming standards adopted by the CEC shall only apply to major EV charging network operators, and the standards must enable network managers to choose between different mechanisms to establish roaming agreements.

AB 1349 (Irwin) of 2023, would have required EV charger owners and operators that accept state grants to provide certain data about their chargers and charging network to third-party software developers for free, as specified. The bill died in the Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities and Communications.

AB 126 (Reyes, Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023) modified and extended the operation of the CTP until January 1, 2035. The bill also required the CEC to set standards by January 1, 2025, regarding how EV charging stations receiving CTP or ratepayer funds will notify customers about the availability and accessibility of chargers.

SB 123 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review, Chapter 52, Statutes of 2023) made various changes to law regarding energy resources. The bill also reassigned duties to implement and enforce EV payment and billing standards from CARB to the CEC. The bill specified that chargers installed after the bill’s enactment must offer a contactless method for accepting major credit and debit cards. For the purposes of this requirement “contactless payment method” means a secure method for consumers to purchase services using a debit card, credit card, smartcard, or another payment device, by using RFID technology and NFC.

AB 2061 (Ting, Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022) required the CEC to define uptime for EV chargers, set uptime recordkeeping and reporting, and assess EV charger uptime every two years.

AB 1424 (Berman) of 2019, would have modified credit card payment requirements for EV chargers and delayed additional rulemaking on EV chargers. The bill was held in the Senate Appropriations Committee.

AB 2127 (Ting, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2018) required the CEC to conduct a statewide assessment every two years of EV charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least five million ZEVs on California roads by 2030, and of reducing emissions of GHG to 40 percent below 1990 levels by 2030.

SB 454 (Corbett, Chapter 418, Statutes of 2013) established the EV Charging Stations Open Access Act, which prohibited EV charger owner-operators from requiring individuals to join clubs or pay subscription fees to use a charger. The bill required chargers to accept credit card payment and authorized CARB to establish interoperable billing standards for EV chargers if a national organization has not adopted such standards by 2015.

FISCAL EFFECT: Appropriation: No Fiscal Com.: Yes Local: No

SUPPORT: (Verified 8/25/25)

AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Electric Transportation Coalition

Center for Sustainable Energy
ChargePoint, Inc.
Electric Era Technologies, Inc.
Electric Vehicle Charging Association
Plug in America

Rivian Automotive, LLC

Union of Concerned Scientists

OPPOSITION: (Verified 8/25/25)

None received

ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT: According to the author:

California has set ambitious climate and greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-79-20 establishes a goal to transition California away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This massive undertaking is lagging behind and will require a rapid and large-scale transition to electric vehicles and a significant investment in charging infrastructure. California has spent over $1.7 billion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To date, only 150,000 of the estimated 2.1 million chargers needed have been deployed. Of publicly available chargers, J.D. Power has found that they are not functioning 20 to 30 percent of the time. Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle.

ASSEMBLY FLOOR: 78-0, 6/2/25

AYES: Addis, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Alanis, Alvarez, Arambula, Ávila Farías, Bains, Bauer-Kahan, Bennett, Berman, Boerner, Bonta, Bryan, Calderon, Caloza, Carrillo, Castillo, Chen, Connolly, Davies, DeMaio, Dixon, Elhawary, Ellis, Flora, Fong, Gabriel, Gallagher, Garcia, Gipson, Jeff Gonzalez, Mark González, Hadwick, Haney, Harabedian, Hart, Hoover, Irwin, Jackson, Kalra, Krell, Lackey, Lee, Lowenthal, Macedo, McKinnor, Nguyen, Ortega, Pacheco, Papan, Patel, Patterson, Pellerin, Petrie-Norris, Quirk-Silva, Ramos, Ransom, Celeste Rodriguez, Michelle Rodriguez, Rogers, Blanca Rubio, Sanchez, Schiavo, Schultz, Sharp-Collins, Solache, Soria, Stefani, Ta, Tangipa, Valencia, Wallis, Ward, Wicks, Wilson, Zbur, Rivas

NO VOTE RECORDED: Muratsuchi

Prepared by: Sarah Smith / E., U. & C. / (916) 651-4107

8/26/25 16:07:31

**** END ****

ASSEMBLY THIRD READING

ATR Bill Id:AB 1423

Author:(Irwin)

As Amended Ver:April 10, 2025

Majority vote

SUMMARY

Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle (EV) chargers installed between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2024 and allows CEC to establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the standards.

Major Provisions

1. Applies uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards applicable to EV chargers and charging stations installed after January 1, 2024 with moneys from the consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board (CARB), Volkswagen AG et al. (VW), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in the United States of America v. Volkswagen AG et al., Case No. 16-cv-295 (N.D. Cal.) (VW Settlement Consent Decrees).
2. Requires the CEC, in consultation with the PUC, to develop additional uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations by January 1, 2027, and applies the additional standards to EV chargers and charging stations installed between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2024, that (i) received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers or (ii) were installed with moneys from VW Settlement Consent Decrees, for a minimum of six years.
3. Requires the CEC, in developing the additional uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, to consider the technological capability of stations, the potential of the standards to result in station closure if unable to report required information, the likelihood of near-term station replacement, and other factors the commission considers appropriate.
4. Specifies the regulations adopted pursuant to this bill shall not apply to charging stations installed at residential real property containing four or fewer dwelling units.
5. Allows the CEC to adopt regulations that establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the recordkeeping and reporting standards adopted pursuant to this bill.
6. Prohibits the administrative civil penalty from exceeding $2,500 for each violation.
7. Requires the CEC to consider the following inn assessing the amount of an administrative penalty:
8. The nature and seriousness of the violation;
9. The number of violations;
10. The persistence of the violation;
11. The length of time over which the violation occurred;
12. The willfulness of the violation;
13. The violator's assets, liabilities, and net worth; and,
14. The harm to consumers and to the state that resulted from the severity of the violation.
15. Allows the CEC, in addition to assessing an administrative penalty, refer the matter to the Attorney General to petition a court to enjoin the violation.
16. Prohibits the CEC from initiating an enforcement process pursuant to the regulations adopted pursuant to this bill until both of the following occur:
17. No fewer than 60 days have elapsed since the effective date of the regulations; and,
18. No fewer than 30 days have elapsed since the date when the commission provided notice to the violator of the alleged violation, either by mail or other means reasonably calculated to provide actual notice.
19. Provides that penalties and costs collected pursuant to the adopted regulations shall be deposited into the General Fund.
20. Allows the executive director of the CEC to adjust the maximum penalties specified for inflation based on the California Consumer Price Index and provides that the adjustment is exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act.

COMMENTS

In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20, mandating that 100% of cars sold in California by 2035 be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To help meet its ambitious climate goals and encourage the adoption of ZEVs, the state provides incentives to develop a robust network of EV charging stations.

With an expected 15.2 million EVs on the road by 2035, the CEC projects that over 2 million additional EV chargers will need to be built in the next decade. To date, the CEC reports that over 170,000 total public and shared private EV chargers are available to charge the over

1 million light-duty passenger ZEVS (including plug-in hybrids) currently on the road. Despite the fact that one in four cars sold in the state in 2023 were ZEVs, the majority of consumers have real concerns about whether they will be able to find a nearby, working EV charging station if they buy an EV. As the state continues to push for more and more ZEVs, ensuring that the supporting EV charging infrastructure is accessible and reliable remains a critical hurdle.

Charging an electric car is unlike refilling a gasoline car. In contrast to the average 10-minute stop at a gas station, the length of time required to fully charge an EV can range from 30 minutes to several hours overnight depending on the type of charger. Although 100,000 charging stations have been built, many of these stations are difficult to find, scarce in rural areas, and frequently non-operational. If a working charging station can be found, the station may not have the proper connector to charge the ZEV in question, and the cost of the charging session and the speed at which the station will dispense electricity may not be clear.

There are a number of dedicated electric vehicle charging smartphone apps that provide information such as station locations, charger types at a given location, and real-time usage status (available or in use). Most charging provider companies have proprietary apps designed to help users locate a charging station within the charging provider’s network. Some smartphone apps aggregate all charging networks, allowing users to search through all the different charging stations in an area, regardless of the charging network, and utilize crowdsourced input on real-time availability and station conditions.

However, news reports continue to reveal driver frustration with current app solutions, with drivers stating that, "there isn't a good software tool that helps electric vehicle owners plan their trips," forcing drivers to download multiple applications on their phone to find a charging station.

In order to address reliability issues going forward, the Legislature passed AB 2061 (Ting), Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022, which requires the CEC and PUC to impose certain performance standards (e.g., uptime requirements) on state-funded charging stations installed after January 1, 2024. As of early 2025, the performance standards are still in development. In parallel, the EV charging industry is moving towards requisite service contracts after installation, establishing minimum operational and maintenance requirements for charging stations and designating responsibility to station owners, operators or charging network providers. According to the CEC's draft staff report, "Tracking California's Electric Vehicle Chargers" (April 9, 2024), "[t]he CEC has included reliability requirements in EV charging grants since 2021, which set 97% uptime standards, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and maintenance requirements for recipients of CEC grants." The report further notes that "[t]he requirement that networked chargers regulated by AB 2061 report the status of the chargers using OCPP 1.6 or later is technically feasible."

The CEC has recently coalesced around the use of Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), an application protocol for EV charging stations to communicate station information with a charge network provider. In 2018, a CEC-funded project at the Santa Clara EV Charging Center demonstrated successful charge operation and management of a charge station network using OCPP version 1.6 (OCPP 1.6). Starting January 1, 2024, the CEC is requiring all funded chargers to be certified for OCPP 1.6 or later, and OCPP 2.0.1 or later by the OCA beginning 2025. OCPP 1.6 was published in 2015 and OCPP 2.0.1 in 2021, with compliance testing tools released in 2016 and in 2023, respectively.

Reliability standards. This bill requires the CEC and PUC to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, and apply those standards to state-funded EV chargers that were installed after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2024.

Broken and unreliable charging stations are one of the main talking points driving the conversation around ZEVs and a major reason for consumer reluctance to buy ZEVs. Requiring existing chargers to meet certain performance and reporting standards may help to alleviate the public’s concerns about driving ZEVs. Additionally, knowing how many legacy chargers are broken and why could be useful as California continues to build out EV charging infrastructure.

However, the retroactive application of uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards to charging stations installed prior to January 1, 2024 faces many technical challenges. Depending on the regulations CEC adopts, the charging stations that would be impacted could range in age from few years to eight year old or more. Many legacy chargers are not only technologically obsolete in their hardware, software, and networking capabilities as compared to state-of-the-art chargers, but also extremely dissimilar to one another in their capabilities. For example, in 2022, termination of cellular network support for 3G rendered many chargers inoperable.

The bill distinguishes the proposed "additional" uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards applicable to chargers installed from 2018-2023 as separate from those being applied to EV charging stations installed after January 2024. In that sense, the CEC and PUC can tailor reliability requirements to older chargers because it is not clear how many would be able to comply with those requirements without extensive equipment upgrades to measure, record and transmit the needed information. Moreover, warranties and service agreements on many older chargers have lapsed. Without clear designation of who would be responsible for meeting uptime requirements or held accountable if they were not met, application and enforcement of performance standards on legacy chargers may end up being overly complex to achieve.

This bill further applies uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards to chargers installed from 2018 onwards using moneys from the consent decrees signed under the VW "Dieselgate" settlement, through VW subsidiary Electrify America. CARB has overseen the expenditure of $800 million in California over four investment cycles, starting in 2017, and the opening of Electrify America’s first EV charging station in 2018.

The CEC plans to build one million chargers by 2030, and two million chargers by 2035, all of which will be subject to uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards after January 1, 2024. Based on estimates of 20-30% of chargers being non-operational today, broken EV chargers from before 2024 will make up less than 2% of the state's total EV charging network in 2035.

Committee comments. The consent decrees between CARB and Electrify America govern the expenditures of VW settlement funds. As such, the author should consider exempting chargers that were installed with monies from the VW settlement from this bill so as not to interfere with or override the legally binding agreements between CARB and Electrify America.

This bill additionally requires the CEC to adopt regulations that establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the recordkeeping and reporting standards adopted pursuant to this bill. According to data from CEC's California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP), the average cost per rated kilowatt to install a Level 2 charger is $1,347. For a typical Level 2 charger rated at 6 kilowatts, the installation project would cost an average of $8,082.

This bill authorizes the CEC to assess administrative violations for noncompliance of the regulations authorized by this bill, not to exceed $2,500/charger for a violation each day. This means that after four days of violations, a charger could be assessed penalties that exceed the initial cost of the charger installation, which does not include operation and maintenance costs. While California needs reliable chargers to provide energy to the ever growing fleet of zero emission vehicles, the administrative violations authorized in this bill may discourage businesses from installing additional EV chargers. Moreover, as this bill applies uptime standards retroactively to chargers that were installed after 2018, it may have the unintended consequence of encouraging businesses to disconnect or remove chargers, further compounding the problem of EV owners’ lacking access to functioning chargers.

The administrative violations this bill authorizes may be assessed on chargers that do not meet uptime requirements. The committee is not aware of similar regulations with associated violations that are currently in force. The CEC has regulations on recordkeeping and reporting standards such as the Quarterly Fuel and Energy Report, the Building Energy Benchmarking Program, and the Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act. Some of these standards have associated administrative violations for noncompliance. However, they differ from the violations proposed in this bill as they only relate to recordkeeping and reporting of data rather than requiring equipment or technology to meet specific performance standard after being deployed. The committee is concerned about the precedent this would set and the possible unintended consequences discussed above.

According to the Author

"California has set ambitious climate and greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector. Governor Newsom's Executive Order N-79-20 establishes a goal to transition California away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This massive undertaking is lagging behind and will require a rapid and large-scale transition to electric vehicles and a significant investment in charging infrastructure. California has spent over $1.7 billion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To date, only 178,000 of the estimated 2.1 million chargers needed have been deployed. Of publicly available chargers, J.D. Power has found that they are not functioning 20 to 30 percent of the time. Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle."

Arguments in Support

"The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is pleased to support AB 1423 (Irwin), which tasks the CEC with developing uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations, as well as require those standards to apply for a minimum of six years…This bill would also allow the CEC to include enforcement provisions for said standards, including penalties for violations among other options, to better assure charger reliability and ultimately, ease of access for drivers…These provisions will go a long way toward improving the ZEV-driver experience and potentially lessen the uncertainty of drivers looking to switch to an electric vehicle."

Arguments in Opposition

California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC), taking a position of oppose unless amended, write "CalETC fully supports ensuring California's EV chargers are more reliable, and actions by the CEC over the past couple of years are making that a reality. However, we object to the provision in AB 1423 that retrospectively puts uptime, record keeping, and reporting requirements on chargers that previously received public and ratepayer dollars. The receipt of those funds was agreed to on certain terms and conditions at the time of entering into a grant agreement, and new retrospective requirements are inappropriate and would set a bad precedent.

Additionally, the CEC has nearly completed the rulemaking for the new uptime, recording keeping, and reporting requirement package, which has been through a robust public process. CalETC believes these regulations need to be put in place as expected this year and given time to be implemented. Data will be collected and assessed, and any further changes or expansion of the regulation may be warranted based on this assessment."

FISCAL COMMENTS

According to the Assembly Appropriations Committee, the CEC contends any cost to implement this bill would be minor and absorbable, because the CEC has undertaking much of the work necessary to implement the bill as part of its implementation of similar obligations applicable to newer EV chargers and charging stations.

However, despite the CEC assertion, it is reasonable to expect this bill to require new work of the CEC to, at the least, develop and adopt rules around the enforcement procedures newly provided by this bill, and to act on those enforcement procedures. Such work is likely to exceed $150,000 in any given year. The likely funding source would be the Energy Resources Program Account (ERPA) and, as the CEC has warned elsewhere, ERPA faces a structural deficit.

VOTES

ASM TRANSPORTATION: 14-1-1

YES: Wilson, Davies, Aguiar-Curry, Ahrens, Carrillo, Harabedian, Hart, Jackson, Lackey, Lowenthal, Macedo, Ransom, Rogers, Ward

NO: Hoover

ABS, ABST OR NV: Papan

ASM UTILITIES AND ENERGY: 18-0-0

YES: Petrie-Norris, Patterson, Boerner, Calderon, Chen, Davies, Fong, Mark González, Harabedian, Hart, Irwin, Papan, Rogers, Schiavo, Solache, Ta, Wallis, Zbur

ASM APPROPRIATIONS: 14-0-1

YES: Wicks, Arambula, Calderon, Caloza, Dixon, Elhawary, Fong, Mark González, Hart, Pacheco, Pellerin, Solache, Ta, Tangipa

ABS, ABST OR NV: Sanchez

UPDATED

VERSION: April 10, 2025

CONSULTANT: Aaron Kurz / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093 FN: 0000502

Date of Hearing: May 14, 2025

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS

Buffy Wicks, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1423

Author:(Irwin) – As Amended Ver:April 10, 2025

Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program: No Reimbursable: No

SUMMARY:

This bill requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for certain older electric vehicle (EV) chargers and charging stations and allows the CEC to establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the standards.

More specifically, among other things, this bill requires the CEC, in consultation with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), by January 1, 2027, to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations that were installed after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2024, and that either (1) received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers or (2) were installed with moneys from the consent decrees among the Air Resources Board (ARB), Volkswagen AG and the United States Department of Justice in United States v. Volkswagen AG, No. 16-cv-295-CRB (N.D. Cal.). The bill limits to six years the effect of any uptimes and recordkeeping standards the CEC develops pursuant to this bill, unless the CEC decides a longer effective time is more appropriate.

The bill provides the CEC with enforcement mechanisms to ensure compliance with the CEC’s uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards (meaning those the CEC adopts pursuant to this bill or pursuant to authority in existing law), including authority to levy a civil penalty of up to $2,500 per violation—with proceeds to be deposited in the General Fund—and authorizes the executive director of the CEC to adjust the maximum penalty amount for inflation. The bill also expressly authorizes the CEC to refer violations to the Attorney General.

FISCAL EFFECT:

The CEC contends any cost to implement this bill would be minor and absorbable, because the CEC has undertaking much of the work necessary to implement the bill as part of its implementation of similar obligations applicable to newer EV chargers and charging stations.

However, despite the CEC assertion, it is reasonable to expect this bill to require new work of the CEC to, at the least, develop and adopt rules around the enforcement procedures newly provided by this bill, and to act on those enforcement procedures. Such work is likely to exceed $150,000 in any given year. The likely funding source would be the Energy Resources Program Account (ERPA) and, as the CEC has warned elsewhere, ERPA faces a structural deficit.

COMMENTS:

1. Purpose. The author intends this bill as a follow up to prior enacted legislation to ensure that all EV chargers and charging stations function reliably, regardless of their date of installation. According to the author:

Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle.

1. Background. The state has ambitious goals to expand the number of EVs on California roads. However, as recently publicized, confidence in the availability and functionality of EV charging stations remains a major impediment to EV adoption.

In 2022, the Legislature approved AB 2061 (Ting), Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022, to require the CEC to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations that received state funding or ratepayer money and are installed on or after January 1, 2024. This bill requires the same of older EV chargers and charging stations and provides the CEC with authority to enforce those requirements on all EV chargers and charging stations that are subject to them.

1. Support and Opposition. This bill is supported by, among others, the Auto Club of Southern California and AAA Northern California, Nevada, and Utah, which together write “publicly funded broken chargers do not provide a public benefit; this bill creates a process for the Commission to determine whether charging station reliability is hampering consumer interest in EVs, and if so, calls on it to take action to address this issue.”

EV charging station operator ChargePoint, Inc. objects to the bill’s retrospective requirements, noting critically that “reporting requirements will be applied to projects outside of the scope of their award contracts and would impose obligations and costs that were not known to funding recipients at the time that the funding contracts were signed. ChargePoint also contends the fine authority the bill gives to the CEC would “be a tremendous disincentive on the deployment of new chargers in California.”

Electrify American raises objections similar to those of ChargePoint, and additionally contends the bill “uniquely and unfairly single out Electrify America’s charging stations, which are private investments and are already under the regulatory jurisdiction of the California Air Resources Board,” pursuant to the Volkswagen consent decree.

Analysis Prepared by: Jay Dickenson / APPR. / (916) 319-2081

Date of Hearing: April 30, 2025

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON UTILITIES AND ENERGY

Cottie Petrie-Norris, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1423 (

Author:Irwin) – As Amended Ver:April 10, 2025

SUBJECT: Transportation electrification: charging station uptime: regulations: violations

SUMMARY: Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) in consultation with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle (EV) chargers installed between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2024. Allows the CEC to establish an enforcement process for violations of these uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards.

Specifically, this bill:

1. Requires recordkeeping and reporting standards established on January 1, 2024 by the CEC in consultation with CPUC applies to electric vehicle chargers that:
   1. Are installed on or after January 1, 2024;
   2. Received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers;
   3. Was installed with moneys from the consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice in United States v. Volkswagen AG, No. 16-cv-295-CRB (N.D. Cal.).
2. Requires the CEC in consultation with CPUC to develop additional uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations by January 1, 2027. These requirements will apply to electric vehicle chargers and charging stations installed after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2024, that meet either of the following criteria:
   1. Received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers.
   2. Were installed with moneys from the consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board, Volkswagen AG, and the United States Department of Justice in United States v. Volkswagen AG, No. 16-cv-295-CRB (N.D. Cal.).
3. These new uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers must consider:
   1. The technological capability of the charging station.
   2. The potential for the standards to result in charging station closure.
   3. The likelihood of near-term charging station replacement.
   4. Other factors the commission considers appropriate.
4. Exempts charging stations installed at residential real property containing four or fewer dwelling units from Energy Commission standards.
5. Allows charging station standards to vary by technology type, power levels, number of chargers per site, site ownership, and the date the charging station was installed.
6. Mandates the commission’s authority to establish enforcement mechanisms for violations of recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers. This includes limiting the civil penalty to two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for each violation.
7. Requires the commission to consider the following factors when determining the amount of an administrative penalty:
   1. The nature and seriousness of the violation.
   2. The number of violations.
   3. The persistence of the violation.
   4. The length of time over which the violation occurred.
   5. The willfulness of the violation.
   6. The violator’s assets, liabilities, and net worth.
   7. The harm to consumers and to the state due to the severity of the violation.
   8. Allows the commission to refer the matter to the Attorney General to petition a court to enjoin the violation.
8. Makes these violations subject to judicial review.
9. Prevents the commission from initiating an enforcement process for violation of a regulation until both of the following occur:
   1. No fewer than 60 days have elapsed since the effective date of the regulations.
   2. No fewer than 30 days have elapsed since the date when the commission provided notice to the violator of the alleged violation.
10. Penalties collected will be deposited into the General Fund.
11. The executive director of the commission may adjust the maximum penalties specified in this section for inflation based on the California Consumer Price Index.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Creates the Clean Transportation Program (CTP), administered by the CEC, to provide competitive grants, loans, or other funding to various entities to develop and deploy technologies that transform California’s fuel and vehicle types to help attain the state’s climate change policies. (Health and Safety Code § 44272)
2. Requires the CEC, working with the CARB and the CPUC, to prepare a statewide assessment of EV charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least 5 million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on California roads by 2030, and of reducing emission of greenhouse gases (GHGs) to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. (Public Resources Code § 25229)
3. Requires the CEC, in consultation with the CPUC, to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations installed on or after January 1, 2024 and received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, by January 1, 2024. Applies these standards to applicable EV chargers and charging stations for a minimum of six years. (Public Resources Code § 25231.5)
4. Requires CEC, in consultation with CARB, as part of the development of the Clean Transportation (CTP) investment plan, to assess whether charging station infrastructure is disproportionately deployed, and, to use CTP funding to more proportionately deploy new charging station infrastructure, unless CEC makes a finding that the disproportionate deployment is reasonable and furthers state energy or environmental policy. (Public Resources Code PRC § 25231)
5. Creates the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Fund to be administered by the CEC to implement the CTP. Requires the CEC to include in the biennial integrated energy policy report (IEPR): a list of projects funded, the expected benefit in terms of specified characteristics, the overall contribution of the funded projects towards specified goals, key obstacles and challenges to meeting the goals, and recommendations for future actions. (Public Resources Code § 44273)
6. Prohibits the charging of a subscription fee or the conditional requiring of membership in any club, association, or organization, on persons desiring to use an EV charging station. Also requires disclosure to the public of total actual charges for the use of an EV charging station, including any additional network roaming charges for nonmembers, at the point of sale. Requires an EV charging station that requires payment of a fee to allow payment via credit card or mobile technology, or both. (Health and Safety Code § 44268.2)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown. This bill is keyed fiscal and will be referred to the Assembly Committee on Appropriations for its review.

CONSUMER COST IMPACTS: Unknown.

BACKGROUND:

California zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) goals – California’s transportation sector is currently the largest source of GHG emissions in the state. In the interest of meeting the state’s emissions reduction targets, California has set a goal that 100% of new passenger vehicles sales will be ZEVs by 2035. Meeting the state’s ZEV goals will require a significant increase in the number of light-, medium-, and heavy-duty ZEVs on the road and a drastic increase in the infrastructure to support these vehicles. Cumulative sales of ZEVs, which include EVs, in California reached 1.8 million in the fourth quarter of 2023, with ZEVs accounting for 25% of new car sales.

To support the rapid deployment of ZEVs, in 2018, the governor set a goal of having 250,000 chargers, including 10,000 direct current fast chargers (DCFCs), operating in California by 2025. Subsequently, the Legislature enacted AB 2127 (Ting, Chapter 365, Statutes of 2018), requiring the CEC to conduct an assessment every two years of the EV charging infrastructure, and associated workforce, needed to meet California’s ZEV deployment goals. In the most recent report published in 2024, the CEC projects over 1 million public and shared private chargers are needed to support 7 million light-duty EVs in 2030, and more than 2 million chargers are needed to support 15 million ZEVs anticipated under Executive Order N-79-20.^[1] An additional 157,000 chargers are needed to support 180,000 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles anticipated for 2030. At present, California has approximately 105,000 public and shared private chargers, including more than 11,000 DCFCs. This represents an order of magnitude difference between how many chargers are currently operating in California versus how many are needed by 2030.

Reliability of EV chargers – More than 2.2 million electric vehicles have been sold in California.^[2] As EV adoption has increased and the charging sector has grown, early adopters of EVs have begun to experience frustrations in the charging experience. In their 2023 survey, Plug In America found that, despite EVs scoring well in driver satisfaction, unreliable public chargers have become a major concern or a deal-breaker for drivers who own or are considering owning an EV. ^[3] Corroborating anecdotal stories from EV owners, a 2022 field study led by UC Berkeley found 28% of public DCFC chargers in the Bay Area were not functional or accessible for a variety of reasons as shown in Table 1.

Table 1. Functional states of 657 DCFC EV chargers in the Bay Area.^[4]

Electric Vehicle Charging Standards – In 2022, the Legislature passed AB 2061 (Ting, Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022), directing the CEC to define “uptime” for reliability and develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers. Qualifying charging stations would be installed on or after January 1, 2024 have received state or ratepayer funding. Uptime is the percentage of time that a charger is functional. The CEC is in the process of adopting these reliability requirements and has proposed extensive recordkeeping and reporting requirements for EV charger networks. The most recent proposal outlines regulations that would::

• Track the number and location of all chargers.
• Track the usage of all networked chargers.
• Require reliability recordkeeping and reporting for all state- and ratepayer funded chargers installed on or after January 1, 2024, for six years.
• Require all state- and ratepayer-funded chargers installed on or after January 1, 2024, to meet a 97 percent uptime standard for six years.
• Require all publicly available state- and ratepayer-funded chargers installed on or after January 1, 2024, to share real-time data on the availability and accessibility of the chargers.
• Require all state- and ratepayer-funded chargers installed on or after January 1, 2026, to meet a 90 percent successful charge attempt rate standard for six years.

The final version of the CEC’s standards has not been released but is anticipated this year.

COMMENTS:

1. Author’s Statement. According to the author: “California has set ambitious climate and greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-79-20 establishes a goal to transition California away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This massive undertaking is lagging behind and will require a rapid and large-scale transition to electric vehicles and a significant investment in charging infrastructure. California has spent over $1.7 billion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To date, only 150,000 of the estimated 2.1 million chargers needed have been deployed. Of publicly available chargers, J.D. Power has found that they are not functioning 20 to 30 percent of the time. Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle.”
2. Purpose of the Bill. As discussed above, reliability has been a long standing issue with electric vehicle chargers and an obstacle to achieving Governor Newsom’s goal for the state to transition away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This bill is one of many recent efforts to address these concerns with the goal of increasing consumer confidence in EVs and EV infrastructure. This bill would extend recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle infrastructure installed after January 1, 2018, but before January 1, 2024. In addition, this bill would allow the CEC to enact penalties for breaking recordkeeping and reporting standards, no greater than $2,500 a day. Implementing standards on older chargers may address some of the most problematic chargers that have plagued the current system, however, many of these chargers are likely to be replaced or unimportant in the next five years as the CEC installs 1 million new chargers across the state. In addition, providing some kind of monetary enforcement mechanism at the CEC to ensure compliance with recordkeeping and reporting seems necessary to achieve compliance. However, opponents argue that these penalties are a disincentive for companies to install chargers in California.
3. The VW “Dieselgate” consent decree and settlement. This bill would apply recordkeeping and reporting standards to chargers installed by Electrify America under the consent decree between the California Air Resources Board (CARB), Volkswagen, and the federal Department of Justice. The consent decree between CARB and Electrify America governs the expenditures of VW settlement funds and limits the extent to which agencies other than CARB can conduct oversight for Electrify America charger installations. This bill may be in conflict with the consent decree.
4. Related Legislation.

SB 314 (Padilla, 2025) makes changes to the inspection requirements for electric vehicle service equipment, under the jurisdiction of weights and measures laws. Status: Pending hearing in the Senate Committee on Business, Professions and Economic Development

SB 533 (Richardson, 2025) allows an electric vehicle EV charging station to require customers to use an internet-based application to gain admission to the charging station premises and pay for charging services. Status: In the Assembly after passing through the Senate.

1. Previous legislation.

AB 2453 (Villapudua) exempts electric vehicle service equipment from the requirement it is to be retested or placed into service by a service agency or sealer before the electric vehicle service equipment is used after receiving maintenance, as specified, until January 1, 2028. Status: Chapter 399, Statutes of 2024

AB 2697 (Irwin) Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop network roaming requirements for state-funded electric vehicle (EV) chargers and charging station networks by January 1, 2026. Status: Chapter 735, statutes of 2024

AB 126 (Reyes and Gonzalez) reauthorized fees that fund the Air Quality Improvement Program, the Clean Transportation Program, and the Enhanced Fleet Modernization Program. Among other changes, required the CEC to adopt tools to increase uptime and recordkeeping and to set standards for how those stations shall notify customers about their availability and accessibility. Status: Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023

AB 1349 (Irwin, 2023) required owners or operators of EV charging stations to make available specified data on the owners’ or operators’ entire network of EV charging stations in California, free of charge, to third-party software developers. Status: Held in Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications

AB 126 (Reyes) required the CEC to set standards for how EV charging stations notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure, and required the CEC to adopt tools to increase uptime at charging stations. Status: Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023

SB 123 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review) required EV chargers that are newly installed and publicly available to offer specified payment methods. Authorized the CEC to modify those requirements in consideration of changing technologies, and vested authority to the CEC to implement and enforce those requirements. Status: Chapter 52, Statutes of 2023

SB 454 (Corbett) prohibited charging a subscription fee on persons desiring to use an EV charging station and required the total actual charges for the use of an EV charging station to be disclosed to the public at the point of sale. Status: Chapter 418, Statutes of 2023

AB 2061 (Ting and Reyes) required the CEC to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EVCS that received state funding or ratepayer money and are installed on or after January 1, 2024. Status: Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022

AB 2127 (Ting) required the CEC to conduct a statewide assessment every two years of EV charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of EV adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least five million zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) on the road and reducing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. Status: Chapter 364, Statutes of 2018

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah
American Automobile Association of Northern California, Nevada & Utah
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Center for Sustainable Energy
Tri County Chamber Alliance
Union of Concerned Scientists

Support If Amended

Plug in America

Opposition

Chargepoint, INC
Electric Vehicle Charging Association
Electrify America, LLC

Oppose Unless Amended

California Electric Transportation Coalition
Tesla INC.

Analysis Prepared by: Kristen Koenig / U. & E. / (916) 319-2083

1. California Energy Commission, Assembly Bill 2127 Second Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Assessment: Assessing Charging Needs to Support Zero-Emission Vehicles in 2030 and 2035, March 6, 2024, https://www.energy.ca.gov/publications/2024/assembly-bill-2127-second-electric-vehicle-charging-infrastructure-assessment, ii. ↑

2. California Energy Commission, “New ZEV Sales in California.” https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/zero-emission-vehicle-and-infrastructure-statistics-collection/new-zev , accessed April 28, 2025 ↑

3. Plug In America; “2023 EV Driver Insights”; https://pluginamerica.org/survey/2023-ev-driver-survey/. ↑

4. Rempel, D., Cullen, C., Matteson Bryan, M., & Vianna Cezar, G. (2024). Reliability of open public electric vehicle direct current fast chargers. Human Factors, 66(11), 2528-2538. ↑

Date of Hearing: April 21, 2025

ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION

Lori D. Wilson, Chair

ABPCA Bill Id:AB 1423 (

Author:Irwin) – As Amended Ver:April 10, 2025

SUBJECT: Transportation electrification: charging station uptime: regulations: violations

SUMMARY: Requires the California Energy Commission (CEC) in consultation with the Public Utilities Commission (PUC) to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle (EV) chargers installed between January 1, 2018 and January 1, 2024 and allows CEC to establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the standards. Specifically, this bill:

1. Applies uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards applicable to EV chargers and charging stations installed after January 1, 2024 with moneys from the consent decrees among the State Air Resources Board (CARB), Volkswagen AG et al. (VW), and the United States Department of Justice (DOJ) in the United States of America v. Volkswagen AG et al., Case No. 16-cv-295 (N.D. Cal.) (VW Settlement Consent Decrees).
2. Requires the CEC, in consultation with the PUC, to develop additional uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations by January 1, 2027, and applies the additional standards to EV chargers and charging stations installed between January 1, 2018, and January 1, 2024, that (i) received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers or (ii) were installed with moneys from VW Settlement Consent Decrees, for a minimum of six years.
3. Requires the CEC, in developing the additional uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, to consider the technological capability of stations, the potential of the standards to result in station closure if unable to report required information, the likelihood of near-term station replacement, and other factors the commission considers appropriate.
4. Specifies the regulations adopted pursuant to this bill shall not apply to charging stations installed at residential real property containing four or fewer dwelling units.
5. Allows the CEC to adopt regulations that establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the recordkeeping and reporting standards adopted pursuant to this bill.
6. Prohibits the administrative civil penalty from exceeding $2,500 for each violation.
7. Requires the CEC to consider the following inn assessing the amount of an administrative penalty:
8. The nature and seriousness of the violation;
9. The number of violations;
10. The persistence of the violation;
11. The length of time over which the violation occurred;
12. The willfulness of the violation;
13. The violator’s assets, liabilities, and net worth; and,
14. The harm to consumers and to the state that resulted from the severity of the violation.
15. Allows the CEC, in addition to assessing an administrative penalty, refer the matter to the Attorney General to petition a court to enjoin the violation.
16. Prohibits the CEC from initiating an enforcement process pursuant to the regulations adopted pursuant to this bill until both of the following occur:
17. No fewer than 60 days have elapsed since the effective date of the regulations; and,
18. No fewer than 30 days have elapsed since the date when the commission provided notice to the violator of the alleged violation, either by mail or other means reasonably calculated to provide actual notice.
19. Provides that penalties and costs collected pursuant to the adopted regulations shall be deposited into the General Fund.
20. Allows the executive director of the CEC to adjust the maximum penalties specified for inflation based on the California Consumer Price Index and provides that the adjustment is exempt from the Administrative Procedure Act.

EXISTING LAW:

1. Defines, under the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act, the following:
2. “Electric vehicle charging station” means one or more publicly available parking spaces served by electric vehicle service equipment; and,
3. “Electric vehicle service equipment” means an electric component assembly or cluster of component assemblies designed specifically to charge batteries within electric vehicles by permitting the transfer of electric energy to a battery or other storage device in an electric vehicle.
4. Requires CEC, in consultation with CARB, as part of the development of the Clean Transportation (CTP) investment plan, to assess whether charging station infrastructure is disproportionately deployed, and, to use CTP funding to more proportionately deploy new charging station infrastructure, unless CEC makes a finding that the disproportionate deployment is reasonable and furthers state energy or environmental policy. (Public Resources Code (PRC) Section 25231)
5. Requires the CEC, in consultation with the PUC, to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations by January 1, 2024, applicable only to EV chargers and charging stations that were installed on or after January 1, 2024, that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, for a minimum of six years. (PRC 25231.5)

FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown

COMMENTS: In 2020, Gov. Gavin Newsom issued Executive Order (EO) N-79-20, mandating that 100% of cars sold in California by 2035 be zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs) to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. To help meet its ambitious climate goals and encourage the adoption of ZEVs, the state provides incentives to develop a robust network of EV charging stations.

With an expected 15.2 million EVs on the road by 2035, the CEC projects that over 2 million additional EV chargers will need to be built in the next decade. To date, the CEC reports that over 170,000 total public and shared private EV chargers are available to charge the over

1 million light-duty passenger ZEVS (including plug-in hybrids) currently on the road. Despite the fact that one in four cars sold in the state in 2023 were ZEVs, the majority of consumers have real concerns about whether they will be able to find a nearby, working EV charging station if they buy an EV. As the state continues to push for more and more ZEVs, ensuring that the supporting EV charging infrastructure is accessible and reliable remains a critical hurdle.

Charging an electric car is unlike refilling a gasoline car. In contrast to the average 10-minute stop at a gas station, the length of time required to fully charge an EV can range from 30 minutes to several hours overnight depending on the type of charger. Although 100,000 charging stations have been built, many of these stations are difficult to find, scarce in rural areas, and frequently non-operational. If a working charging station can be found, the station may not have the proper connector to charge the ZEV in question, and the cost of the charging session and the speed at which the station will dispense electricity may not be clear.

There are a number of dedicated electric vehicle charging smartphone apps that provide information such as station locations, charger types at a given location, and real-time usage status (available or in use). Most charging provider companies have proprietary apps designed to help users locate a charging station within the charging provider’s network. Some smartphone apps aggregate all charging networks, allowing users to search through all the different charging stations in an area, regardless of the charging network, and utilize crowdsourced input on real-time availability and station conditions.

However, news reports continue to reveal driver frustration with current app solutions, with drivers stating that, “there isn’t a good software tool that helps electric vehicle owners plan their trips,” forcing drivers to download multiple applications on their phone to find a charging station. Additionally, there are instances of drivers “download[ing] at least eight apps on [their] phone from companies like EVgo, Electrify America, ChargePoint and Shell Recharge,” not only cluttering a driver’s phone, but certain applications also require an account and outstanding balance to use.

Aside from the inconvenience of downloading various applications in order to locate chargers, the New York Times reported that despite drivers checking online prior to arriving at a charging station, “about a quarter of the public charging outlets in the San Francisco Bay Area, where electric cars are commonplace, were not working.”

In order to address reliability issues going forward, the Legislature passed AB 2061 (Ting), Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022, which requires the CEC and PUC to impose certain performance standards (e.g., uptime requirements) on state-funded charging stations installed after January 1, 2024. As of early 2025, the performance standards are still in development. In parallel, the EV charging industry is moving towards requisite service contracts after installation, establishing minimum operational and maintenance requirements for charging stations and designating responsibility to station owners, operators or charging network providers. According to the CEC’s draft staff report, “Tracking California’s Electric Vehicle Chargers” (April 9, 2024), “[t]he CEC has included reliability requirements in EV charging grants since 2021, which set 97% uptime standards, recordkeeping and reporting requirements, and maintenance requirements for recipients of CEC grants.” The report further notes that “[t]he requirement that networked chargers regulated by AB 2061 report the status of the chargers using OCPP 1.6 or later is technically feasible.”

The CEC has recently coalesced around the use of Open Charge Point Protocol (OCPP), an application protocol for EV charging stations to communicate station information with a charge network provider. In 2018, a CEC-funded project at the Santa Clara EV Charging Center demonstrated successful charge operation and management of a charge station network using OCPP version 1.6 (OCPP 1.6). Starting January 1, 2024, the CEC is requiring all funded chargers to be certified for OCPP 1.6 or later, and OCPP 2.0.1 or later by the OCA beginning 2025. OCPP 1.6 was published in 2015 and OCPP 2.0.1 in 2021, with compliance testing tools released in 2016 and in 2023, respectively.

Reliability standards. This bill requires the CEC and PUC to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards, and apply those standards to state-funded EV chargers that were installed after January 1, 2018 but before January 1, 2024.

Broken and unreliable charging stations are one of the main talking points driving the conversation around ZEVs and a major reason for consumer reluctance to buy ZEVs. Requiring existing chargers to meet certain performance and reporting standards may help to alleviate the public’s concerns about driving ZEVs. Additionally, knowing how many legacy chargers are broken and why could be useful as California continues to build out EV charging infrastructure.

However, the retroactive application of uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards to charging stations installed prior to January 1, 2024 faces many technical challenges. Depending on the regulations CEC adopts, the charging stations that would be impacted could range in age from few years to eight year old or more. Many legacy chargers are not only technologically obsolete in their hardware, software, and networking capabilities as compared to state-of-the-art chargers, but also extremely dissimilar to one another in their capabilities. For example, in 2022, termination of cellular network support for 3G rendered many chargers inoperable.

The bill distinguishes the proposed “additional” uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards applicable to chargers installed from 2018-2023 as separate from those being applied to EV charging stations installed after January 2024. In that sense, the CEC and PUC can tailor reliability requirements to older chargers because it is not clear how many would be able to comply with those requirements without extensive equipment upgrades to measure, record and transmit the needed information. Moreover, warranties and service agreements on many older chargers have lapsed. Without clear designation of who would be responsible for meeting uptime requirements or held accountable if they were not met, application and enforcement of performance standards on legacy chargers may end up being overly complex to achieve. This bill provides the CEC with flexibility to develop these standards such that they are not overly burdensome and are practicable to implement.

This bill further applies uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards to chargers installed from 2018 onwards using moneys from the consent decrees signed under the VW “Dieselgate” settlement, through VW subsidiary Electrify America. CARB has overseen the expenditure of $800 million in California over four investment cycles, starting in 2017, and the opening of Electrify America’s first EV charging station in 2018.

The CEC plans to build one million chargers by 2030, and two million chargers by 2035, all of which will be subject to uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards after January 1, 2024. Based on estimates of 20-30% of chargers being non-operational today, broken EV chargers from before 2024 will make up less than 2% of the state’s total EV charging network in 2035. Recognizing that the broken EV chargers affect EV drivers today, performance requirements for chargers that can comply with uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards would alleviate EV drivers’ frustration and improve the EV charging experience until more EV chargers are installed.

Committee comments. The consent decrees between CARB and Electrify America govern the expenditures of VW settlement funds. As such, the author should consider exempting chargers that were installed with monies from the VW settlement from this bill so as not to interfere with or override the legally binding agreements between CARB and Electrify America.

This bill additionally requires the CEC to adopt regulations that establish an administrative enforcement process for violations of the recordkeeping and reporting standards adopted pursuant to this bill. According to data from CEC’s California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP), the average cost per rated kilowatt to install a Level 2 charger is $1,347. For a typical Level 2 charger rated at 6 kilowatts, the installation project would cost an average of $8,082.

This bill authorizes the CEC to assess administrative violations for noncompliance of the regulations authorized by this bill, not to exceed $2,500/charger for a violation each day. This means that after four days of violations, a charger could be assessed penalties that exceed the initial cost of the charger installation, which does not include operation and maintenance costs. While California needs reliable chargers to provide energy to the ever growing fleet of zero emission vehicles, the administrative violations authorized in this bill may discourage businesses from installing additional EV chargers. Moreover, as this bill applies uptime standards retroactively to chargers that were installed after 2018, it may have the unintended consequence of encouraging businesses to disconnect or remove chargers, further compounding the problem of EV owners’ lacking access to functioning chargers.

The administrative violations this bill authorizes may be assessed on chargers that do not meet uptime requirements. The committee is not aware of similar regulations with associated violations that are currently in force. The CEC has regulations on recordkeeping and reporting standards such as the Quarterly Fuel and Energy Report, the Building Energy Benchmarking Program, and the Petroleum Industry Information Reporting Act. Some of these standards have associated administrative violations for noncompliance. However, they differ from the violations proposed in this bill as they only relate to recordkeeping and reporting of data rather than requiring equipment or technology to meet specific performance standard after being deployed. The committee is concerned about the precedent this would set and the possible unintended consequences discussed above.

According to the author. “California has set ambitious climate and greenhouse gas reduction goals for the transportation sector. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order N-79-20 establishes a goal to transition California away from gas-powered vehicles by 2035. This massive undertaking is lagging behind and will require a rapid and large-scale transition to electric vehicles and a significant investment in charging infrastructure. California has spent over $1.7 billion on electric vehicle charging infrastructure. To date, only 178,000 of the estimated 2.1 million chargers needed have been deployed. Of publicly available chargers, J.D. Power has found that they are not functioning 20 to 30 percent of the time. Without consumer confidence in public charging infrastructure, California jeopardizes its investment and commitment to transition away from gas-powered vehicles. The California Energy Committee is finalizing regulations to improve charger uptime and the driver experience for chargers installed with state grants after 2024. AB 1423 applies these standards to all public chargers so that drivers can feel confident in their choice to switch to an electric vehicle.”

Arguments in support. “The Union of Concerned Scientists (UCS) is pleased to support AB 1423 (Irwin), which tasks the CEC with developing uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for electric vehicle chargers and charging stations, as well as require those standards to apply for a minimum of six years…This bill would also allow the CEC to include enforcement provisions for said standards, including penalties for violations among other options, to better assure charger reliability and ultimately, ease of access for drivers…These provisions will go a long way toward improving the ZEV-driver experience and potentially lessen the uncertainty of drivers looking to switch to an electric vehicle.”

Arguments in opposition. California Electric Transportation Coalition (CalETC), taking a position of oppose unless amended, write “CalETC fully supports ensuring California’s EV chargers are more reliable, and actions by the CEC over the past couple of years are making that a reality. However, we object to the provision in AB 1423 that retrospectively puts uptime, record keeping, and reporting requirements on chargers that previously received public and ratepayer dollars. The receipt of those funds was agreed to on certain terms and conditions at the time of entering into a grant agreement, and new retrospective requirements are inappropriate and would set a bad precedent.

Additionally, the CEC has nearly completed the rulemaking for the new uptime, recording keeping, and reporting requirement package, which has been through a robust public process. CalETC believes these regulations need to be put in place as expected this year and given time to be implemented. Data will be collected and assessed, and any further changes or expansion of the regulation may be warranted based on this assessment.”

Double referral: This bill is double referred to the Assembly Utilities and Energy Committee and will be heard by that Committee as it relates to issues under its jurisdiction.

Previous and related legislation: AB 2697 (Irwin), Chapter 735, statutes of 2024 was heard in this committee with a number of provisions that are currently in AB 1423. AB 2697 was significantly amended in the Senate, removing all of the provisions that are in AB 1423 and instead dealing with the issue of roaming.

AB 1349 (Irwin) of 2023 would have required, on and after June 1, 2024, owners, operators, and infrastructure developers of EV charging stations, except for charging stations located at residential dwellings, as defined, for which those parties are awarded a state grant to support the EV charging stations, including related infrastructure, on or after January 1, 2024, to ensure that specified data fields for the owner’s or operator’s entire network of EV charging stations in California are made available, free of charge, to third-party software developers through an application programming interface, as specified. Held in Senate Committee on Energy, Utilities, and Communications.

SB 123 (Committee on Budget and Fiscal Review), Chapter 52, Statutes of 2023 requires an EV charging station that is newly installed or made publicly available to offer specified payment methods, authorizes the CEC, by regulation that is effective no earlier than January 1, 2028, to add or subtract from the payment methods required by the bill, as appropriate in light of changing technologies, and vests the CEC with authority to implement and enforce those requirements on EV charging stations and would specify that CARB has the authority to enforce the requirements on EV charging stations until the commission adopts regulations implementing those requirements.

AB 126 (Reyes), Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023 requires the CEC, by January 1, 2025, to set standards for how EV charging stations notify customers about the availability and accessibility of publicly available charging infrastructure, and requires rather than authorizes the CEC to adopt tools to increase charging station uptime.

AB 2061 (Ting), Chapter 345, Statutes of 2022 requires the CEC, in consultation with the PUC, to develop uptime recordkeeping and reporting standards for EV chargers and charging stations by January 1, 2024, applicable only to EV chargers and charging stations that were installed on or after January 1, 2024, that received an incentive from a state agency or through a charge on ratepayers, for a minimum of 6 years. AB 2061 further authorizes the CEC and PUC to adopt tools to increase charging station uptime.

AB 2127 (Ting), Chapter 365, Statutes of 2018 requires the CEC, CARB and the PUC to prepare and biennially update a statewide assessment of the electric vehicle charging infrastructure needed to support the levels of electric vehicle adoption required for the state to meet its goals of putting at least 5 million zero-emission vehicles on California roads by 2030 and of reducing emissions of greenhouse gases to 40% below 1990 levels by 2030. 

SB 454 (Corbett), Chapter 418, Statutes of 2013 creates the Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Open Access Act which prohibits charging a subscription fee on persons desiring to use an electric vehicle charging station and requires the total actual charges for the use of an electric vehicle charging station to be disclosed to the public at the point of sale.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support

AAA Northern California, Nevada & Utah
American Automobile Association of Northern California, Nevada & Utah
Automobile Club of Southern California
California Center for Sustainable Energy
Union of Concerned Scientists

Support If Amended

Plug in America

Opposition

Electric Vehicle Charging Association

Electrify America

Oppose Unless Amended

California Electric Transportation Coalition

Tesla INC.

Analysis Prepared by: Aaron Kurz / TRANS. / (916) 319-2093