URGENT, we need every Marylnder's help!
We have until 3:00pm ET today Tuesday, Feburary 28, 2023 to submit testimony.
Maryland is taking its HB834 the EV Charging Reliability Act to committee Thursday, March 2. We need everyone to submit favorable testimony on why this bill is needed to help build a reliable EV charging network and hold the Network owners and operators to better reliability standards then just 99% uptime because 1 charger at a site is online!
Maryland General Assembly Witness Written & Oral Testimony signup:
https://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/MyMGATracking/WitnessSignup?id=all
You will need to create an account before submitting testimony.
If you are going to be there in person you will need to signup for in person testimony!
Talking Points on the EV Charger Reliability Act
· HB 834 is designed to ensure that any entity using taxpayer or ratepayer funds to install chargers is held to a high standard of reliability, accountability, and transparency.
· During the EV Pilot program administered by the PSC, the utilities (BGE, Pepco, SMECO, and Potomac Edison) have installed hundreds of chargers on property owned, leased, or operated by local governments or municipalities.
· As the Pilot program comes to an end, lawmakers will need as much information as possible to determine whether utilities can install reliable chargers.
· HB 834’s reporting requirements mirror the federal NEVI reporting requirements for private entities using federal funding to install EV chargers. This ensures that private companies and utilities are playing on a level playing field.
· HB 834 codifies a standard definition of uptime to increase accountability and sets a goal for all utilities to achieve an uptime of 97%.
· On a quarterly basis, utilities must report the following information:
o The location of the EV charging station, and for each charging station:
§ Charging station start and end times and rates of successful completion;
§ The total amount of electricity dispensed into an electric vehicle for each charging session;
§ The peak amount of electricity dispensed for each charging station;
§ Uptime each of the previous three months;
§ The cost of electricity needed to operate each station for the previous three months;
§ Maintenance and repair costs for each of the previous three months;
§ The cost of acquiring real property for use as an EV charging station;
§ The cost of acquiring and installing the charging equipment;
§ The cost of acquiring and installing distributed energy resources;
§ The cost of connecting to the electric grid and any applicable connection upgrades; and
§ The capacity of each distributed energy resource used by an EV charging station.
· Finally, this bill expands the Pilot program to determine whether utilities are capable of correcting market failures that have impacted underserved communities.
o Currently, there is a demonstrative lack of EV charging infrastructure in underserved communities, with significant gaps in neighborhoods in Prince George’s County, Cumberland, and on the Eastern Shore.1
o Recognizing the failure of private industry to place EV charging stations in underserved communities, the PSC has authorized narrowly tailored rebate and installation programs to reduce this disparity.
o So far, the installation program has had considerably more success than the rebate program for multi-unit dwellings with nearly 200 multifamily chargers either rebated or installed through June 30, 2022.
o HB 834 seeks to close this gap by expressly expanding the Pilot program to allow utilities to install EV charging stations in new and existing multifamily dwellings in underserved communities through December 31, 2025.
1 See Jan-Michael Archer M.S. and Sacoby Wilson Ph.D., MD EJSCREEN v2.0, Maryland Department of the Environment (n.d.), https://p1.cgis.umd.edu/ejscreen/ ; See also Maryland Energy Administration, Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Rebate Program Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) (n.d.), FY23 EVSE Rebate Program FOA 11-23-22.docx (maryland.gov)
House Economic Matters Committee (ECM)
Witness Guidelines and Committee FAQs
Bill Hearings
For the 2023 Session, all bill hearings will be held in hybrid format and live streamed on YouTube.
You can view all hearings live via YouTube on the Maryland General Assembly (MGA) website home page here:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/ or on the MGA hearing schedule here:
http://mgaleg.maryland.gov/mgawebsite/Meetings/Day/guidelines
Bill Hearings will, generally, begin at 1:00 pm and the order ofscheduled bills will be posted on the Hearing Schedule
1 day prior to the bill hearing.
For guidance on how to use the MyMGA portal, create your account, or navigate the witness sign-up and testimony
submission features, refer to the two video tutorials on the Maryland General Assembly website. MyMGA works best
on Chrome or Microsoft Edge browsers; for Apple devices the Safari browser is best. Other browsers might kick you
out of the system.
There will be no sharing the screen with presentations/PowerPoints during Economic Matters bill hearings by virtual
witnesses. If you would like Committee members to have your presentation, you may upload it using MyMGA, in PDF
format, along with your written testimony (members will be able to view it during the hearing on their laptops along
with all written testimony) or you may email the presentation in advance to Committee members.
Witness Signup and Testimony Upload
Oral testimony sign-up and written testimony (PDF documents only) submission must be done using the MyMGA
feature on the Maryland General Assembly website home page (see icon on the upper right corner of home page).
Oral testimony, in-person, is strongly encouraged but should you choose to testify virtually, you MUST enter a valid
email address that you can access. This is how you will receive the Zoom link for admission into the hearing to testify.
Oral testimony sign-up and written testimony submission is only open for 7 hours, 2 business days before a scheduled
hearing. The sign-up period starts at 8:00 am and closes at 3:00 pm (business days do not include weekends). There
is NO switching from in-person to virtual or vice versa once the sign-up period has closed.
Bill sponsors are automatically signed up for oral in-person testimony on their bill but must follow these same
MyMGA procedures and timeframes to upload their written testimony (bill sponsors: just select “written” not “both”
when uploading your testimony).
The following chart detailstiming for witnesssignup and testimony upload:
Hearing is on a: Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday
Sign up to testify
and/or submit
written testimony
on:
The previous
Thursday from
8:00am-3:00pm
The previous
Friday from
8:00am-3:00pm
The previous
Monday from
8:00am-3:00pm
The previous
Tuesday from
8:00am-3:00pm
The previous
Wednesday from
8:00am-3:00pm
Zoom link sent: Previous Friday Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday
Uploading Written Testimony
File names on testimony must include the bill number and the name of the organization and/or person testifying,
such as “HB0135_PSC_Smith.pdf.” It may be helpful to include a position or other explanation after the name, such
as FAV, UNF, FWA, INFO, or AMD.
Written testimony must be submitted as a PDF file. Testimony submitted in any other format will not be accepted.
The Committee is no longer able to accept written testimony in advance of the designated sign-up period.
Late testimony will be shared with the Committee on the next Committee workday.
Emailed or faxed testimony will not be accepted prior to the bill hearing.
Oral Witness Testimony (limited to 2 minutes)
In-person Witnesses:
The screens in the main lobby outside of the hearing room display the bill order during each bill hearing. The bill order
status is updated throughout each hearing and the screens show the live hearing with closed captions.
Virtual Witnesses:
Once you receive the email with the Zoom link for your hearing date, to start the process of entering the Zoom hearing,
you will click the link which will place you in the “waiting room” for the Zoom hearing. The host of the Zoom hearing
will see your name in the “waiting room”. Your name must match exactly with the name you used to sign-up on
MyMGA and must be your first and last name. How to make sure: once you are signed on to your Zoom account, prior
to joining the hearing, go to your “Profile” and choose “Edit” next to your name and make sure your “Display name”
matches the first and last name you used to sign up for the hearing. Then join the hearing so the host will see the
correct name in the waiting room to admit you.
Do not use your organization’s name or acronym when joining the Zoom hearing. The host will not admit you to the
hearing if the name seen by the host does not match the first and last name used to sign-up.
The name you use to sign-up with during the sign-up period is the only name that will be called and allowed to testify.
If you change the name in a MyMGA account after the sign-up period has closed, that name will NOT be called to
testify.
If your bill has many witnesses, you might not be admitted right at the start of your bill hearing as the host will admit
witnesses in groups of about 5 at a time.
You cannot hear the Zoom hearing when you are in the Zoom waiting room. You may watch the hearing via the
YouTube live stream (see above) while waiting for your bill. You must close YouTube when you enter the Zoom
hearing or there will be a disruptive feedback/echo sound.
After your bill is heard, you will be removed from the Zoom hearing. Again, you can watch the hearing via YouTube. If
you have another bill being heard on the same date but later that same day, please click the link in your email again
to rejoin, and you will be readmitted at the appropriate time for your next bill.
Testimony After Crossover
After Crossover, the committee will receive testimony on cross-filed Senate bills, only if scheduled for a hearing, from
the sponsor or the sponsor’s designee. On departmental bills, the appropriate department will be allowed to testify.
Others are welcome to submit written testimony. On all other bills, limited oral testimony may be received from the
proponents and opponents only at the discretion of the committee chair.
Request For Testimony
Requests for copies of written testimony after a bill is heard can be made by calling the Committee with the bill
number, your name, phone number, and email address. The testimony will then be emailed to you. After the
Committee votes on a bill and is on second reader, the testimony can be found on the MGA website on each bill’s
history page under “Witness List.” Testimony for bills not voted on can be found on the MGA website on each bill’s
history page after session ends, or before session ends by calling the Committee to have it emailed to you.
Please contact the Committee at (410) 841-3519/ (301) 858-3519 with any questions