Correspondence: Victoria Electric Vehicle Association Re: Right to Charge

Re: Right to Charge - Access to Electric Vehicle charging in multiple unit residential buildings (MURBs) - Meeting Municipal GHG reduction targets

At the 2019 meeting of UBCM, Resolution B144 entitled “Electric Vehicle Right to Charge Rules” was endorsed by the UBCM membership. Access to EV charging infrastructure in multiple unit residential buildings is an essential requirement for higher EV sales as demand for EVs is reported to be reduced my as much as 40%¹ without access to home charging.

Attached please find a copy of correspondence dated June 26, 2020 to the Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing regarding a request for “Right to Charge” electric vehicle regulations for British Columbia. The correspondence includes an extensive brief on this subject entitled – “Electric Vehicle Right to Charge Backgrounder”.

Without Strata Property and Residential Tenancy electric vehicle “Right to Charge” regulations, British Columbia, and its municipalities will not meet their climate action targets that are dependent upon increasing electric vehicle adoption rates.

We are therefore seeking the support of your municipality in any suitable form, to encourage the passage of the necessary regulations to expeditiously facilitate access to EV charging in multiple unit residential buildings.

Respectfully

David Grove, President, The Victoria Electric Vehicle Association info@VictoriaEVclub.com

¹ SFU Simon Fraser University - The Canadian Plug in Electric Vehicle Study 2015 https://sustainabletransport.ca/the-canadian-plug-in-electric-vehicle-study-cpevs/

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June 26, 2020

The Honorable Selina Robinson Minister of Municipal Affairs & Housing PO Box 9056 Stn. Prov Govt Victoria, BC V8W 9E2 MAH.Minister@gov.bc.ca

Dear Minister Robinson

Re: - Access to Electric Vehicle charging in multiple unit residential buildings (MURBs) – A zero taxpayer cost solution to remove an obstacle that will prevent BC from meeting its ZEV sales targets.

British Columbia is a world leader in municipal electric vehicle infrastructure regulations that facilitate the adoption of electric vehicles to address the climate emergency. In 2011 Vancouver was the first City in the world to require EV infrastructure in new residential construction followed by Richmond being first to require 100% residential coverage in 2018. The District of Saanich is on track to become first in the world to tailor EV infrastructure requirements by property use in their zoning bylaw (2020). It would be beneficial if all municipalities amended their zoning bylaws to provide for EV infrastructure in, at least, new residential construction.

BC is also home to the state-of-the-art technology that enables multiple EVs to optimize the sharing of power between EVs and reduce peak building power requirements. Further, BC is also home to the professionals that successfully drafted the changes to the Electrical Codes that were necessary to enable this state-of-the-art EV charging technology. This technology, for the first time, has made large-scale EV charging in MURBs affordable.

However, in BC, there is no requirement for Strata Corporations or apartment landlords to approve access for EV owners to EV charging outlets, either for buildings that already have partial or complete base EV infrastructure¹, or for older buildings that require retrofitting.

With more than 60 percent of the BC urban population in the larger cities living in MURBs, lack of a requirement to enable access to EV charging is a major impediment to EV adoption rates, reducing EV purchasing demand by as much as 40%².

Without the ability to charge at home, prospective owners or renters, that otherwise would have purchased an electric vehicle will continue to purchase conventional vehicles.

There is no prospect of British Columbia meeting its ZEV sales targets of 10/30/100% by 2025/2030 and 2040 respectively unless this EV adoption obstacle is removed.

The policy solution to this problem is often referred to as “Right to Charge”. As the Ministry is aware, this has the support of the UBCM that passed a resolution to this effect³ in 2019.

We have many records in our case files of requests for EV charging access in MURBs being summarily rejected by Strata Councils, corporations or landlords. In the infrequent successful cases, approval can typically take years. (references are included in the attached “Backgrounder”)

Some jurisdictions⁴ have addressed the Right to Charge issue with some success but we believe that BC has an opportunity to implement a “Right to Charge” policy that would be more effective and equitable. There would be no mandatory requirement for the Strata or landlords to contribute financially as the infrastructure could be financed entirely by the EV owners that benefit from access to charging outlets. Installations would still qualify for incentive programs depending on the conditions associated with such programs at the time.

The core principles of the suggested “Right to Charge” policy for Stratas⁵ are as follows:

1. A Strata Corporation would be required to enter into an agreement with Electric Vehicle owner(s) on the request of an owner or owners provided that: a. The electrical capacity of the building be determined and a long-range strategy for providing as many EV charging spaces as feasible be presented to the Strata. b. There is no requirement (it is optional) for the Strata to contribute financially to the provision of the EV infrastructure. c. EV owner(s) agree to pay up to 100% of the cost of installation, operation, maintenance and all electricity fees. d. Any amortization plan for the financing of the infrastructure be reviewed as to its viability and sustainability by a Professional Accountant
2. That there be expeditious approval requirements including time limits for entering into agreements, responding to requests, and final approvals.
3. A Strata Corporation would be permitted to levy supplementary Strata fees to individual strata units that agree to such fees in order to amortize the cost of EV infrastructure over a period of years and internal financing (with interest) would be permitted using capital reserve funds⁶. Subsequent additional EV owners would contribute to the original base infrastructure costs resulting in reduced payments for the initial contributors.
4. Strata Corporations may only turn down a request to enter into an agreement under the conditions that; the electrical capacity of the building would be exceeded, as certified by a qualified professional or if the installation would compromise the structural integrity of the building, as certified by a qualified professional.

The core principles of the suggested “Right to Charge” policy for Landlords⁷ are as follows:

1. No lease agreement shall include provisions that prohibit, or unreasonably restrict, lessee access to EV charging infrastructure or outlets.
2. A requirement that the lessor approve a written request in accordance with specified requirements in a timely manner.
3. The specified requirements would include the lessee’s responsibilities for installation, operations, maintenance and electricity costs and the lessor’s conditions for making modifications to the property.

We would also suggest that the Ministry give consideration to issuing guidance that would encourage municipalities, that have not already done so, to amend their zoning bylaws to provide for EV infrastructure in new residential construction, thereby significantly reducing the cost of retro-fitting new builds in the future.

We are respectfully requesting the consideration of the above to remove this key obstacle to EV adoption rates in British Columbia, as without timely action, BC’s EV sales targets and municipal GHG reduction targets will not be met.

Respectfully submitted

James Locke, President, The Victoria Electric Vehicle Association info@VictoriaEVclub.com

cc The Honorable John Horgan, Premier of British Columbia, Premier@gov.bc.ca The Honorable George Heyman, Minister of Environment & Climate Change Strategies, ENV.Minster@gov.bc.ca The Honorable Bruce Ralston, Minister of Energy, Mines & Petroleum Resources EMPR.Minister@gov.bc.ca Members of the Legislative Assembly of British Columbia BC Municipalities with populations of over 25,000 Maja Tait, Chair, UBCM mtait@sooke.ca Tony Gioventu, Executive Director, Condominium Home Owners' Association of BC tony@choa.bc.ca Wendy Wall, President, The Vancouver Island Strata Owners’ Association president@visoa.bc.ca

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¹ There are a reported 50,000 residential units in Vancouver alone with various degrees of EV readiness ² Simon Fraser University - The Canadian Plug-in Electric Vehicle Study (CPEVS) 2015 ³ UBCM Resolution B144 (2019) ⁴ Ontario, California, Hawaii ⁵ The BC Strata Property Act and Regulations ⁶ To reduce financing costs and simplify administration ⁷ The BC Residential Tenancy Act (RTA)