On February 28, 2020, Duke Energy filed a settlement with the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) that resolves competitive issues raised by ChargePoint, an electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure company that operates the nation's largest charging network, in earlier filings by making modifications to its proposed EV pilot like bringing ChargePoint on board.[1] Prior to these changes, ChargePoint had raised particular concerns that the pilot limits customers’ ability to choose their preferred charging equipment because the original plan was to execute a request for proposals generating a single vendor. The new plan allows site hosts to choose from at least two vendors which will decrease the risk of any one specific vendor having a monopoly.

Currently, North Carolina has a target of having 80,000 zero-emission vehicles on its roads by 2025, and Duke claims its pilot is key to reaching that goal.[2] The utility’s EV pilot is comprised of seven individual programs, including rebates for residential chargers, incentives for fleet equipment, and an electric school bus charging initiative. In an effort to address concerns from NCUC Public Staff, which acts as a consumer advocate, the utility has offered to scale back its $76 million EV offerings.[3] Duke’s proposed order offers to remove programs that involve multi-family charging stations and the public Level 2 charging stations, which would result in a decrease of approximately $4.1 million from the overall cost of the pilot. However, NCUC Public Staff stated in a proposed order that its previous objections that the pilot is too large to be considered a proof-of-concept still stands.

[1] https://starw1.ncuc.net/NCUC/ViewFile.aspx?Id=486df7da-0095-4356-88a6-90d5a0b90626

[2] https://www.ncdot.gov/news/press-releases/Pages/2019/2019-08-22-ncdot-draft-zev-plan-released.aspx

[3] https://starw1.ncuc.net/NCUC/ViewFile.aspx?Id=91abe520-2ef0-4d1c-bfc0-fc7bd2abec48