The PUC blessed submetering for EV chargers
The PUC blessed submetering for EV chargers
2026-09-15 · Pennsylvania · Regulation
What happened. The Pennsylvania Public Utility Commission adopted a final policy statement on electric-utility rate design for electric-vehicle charging. It was adopted at the public meeting of 19 December 2024, entered on 7 January 2025, and published at 55 Pa.B. 1447 on 15 February 2025, effective on publication. Docket M-2023-3040755.1
The provision that matters in a shared garage
Verbatim from the policy statement:
"Electric distribution companies should explore the use of telematic submetering instead of additional revenue grade metering to measure electric-vehicle charging characteristics and timing for purposes of billing."1
That sentence addresses the single largest practical obstacle to putting chargers into a condominium or planned-community parking structure. The record before the Commission reflects that installing a revenue-grade meter "may be cost prohibitive to the use of an EV rate" and can leave a customer with stranded meter costs.
The rest of the statement
Utilities should "develop tariffs with distribution and default service generation rates for the purpose of implementing rates specifically for electric-vehicle charging customers." Those rates "should not establish or maintain any unreasonable preference or advantage for certain types of electric vehicles or drivers and should not create undue financial burdens for low-income customers or disadvantaged communities," and must reflect cost-of-service principles "in a manner that avoids unreasonable cross-subsidization between customers."
What a policy statement is, and is not
It is not a binding regulation. A final policy statement sets out the factors the Commission will consider; it does not compel a utility to do anything, and it creates no right for an owner or an association. The distinction matters here because the operative verb throughout is "should."
Why metering is the whole problem
In a single-family house the electricity for a charger runs through the house meter, and the owner pays for it. In a Pennsylvania condominium or a planned community with shared parking, the parking area is a common element and its electricity typically runs through the association's meter.
That produces the question every board in this position gets stuck on: how does the association charge the owner for the electricity their car uses, without either subsidising them from common funds or building a metering infrastructure that costs more than the chargers?
The conventional answer — a revenue-grade meter per charging point — is expensive, requires utility involvement, and produces exactly the stranded-cost problem the Commission's record describes. Telematic submetering measures consumption through the vehicle's or charger's own data rather than through separately installed utility-grade hardware. If utilities accept it for billing, the economics of a shared-garage installation change materially.
What this does not give an association or an owner
Three limits worth stating precisely, because this area generates a lot of over-claiming:
- No right to install. Pennsylvania has no statute giving a unit owner the right to install a charger over an association's objection. The question is governed by the declaration and the association's powers under 68 Pa.C.S. § 3302 or § 5302, and neither has been amended since 2018.
- No obligation on the utility. "Should explore" is not "shall provide." Whether telematic submetering is actually available depends on the utility's tariff.
- No resolution of the common-element problem. Even with clean submetering, installing equipment on or through a common element requires whatever approval the declaration requires, and raises allocation questions about the parking space, the conduit run, the panel capacity and the risk.
The bills that would create a right, and where they are
Two companions would add 68 Pa.C.S. §§ 3224, 4224 and 5224. SB 561, introduced by Sen. John Kane and referred to Senate Transportation on 4 April 2025, and HB 2463, introduced by Rep. Tim Brennan and referred to House Transportation on 29 April 2026. Neither has moved.2
Their operative language: "Notwithstanding contrary provisions of a declaration or bylaws of a condominium: (1) A unit owner may submit an application to install an electric vehicle charging station for the personal, noncommercial use of the unit owner … in a space assigned to the unit … or (ii) in a limited common element with the written approval of the unit owner of each unit to which use of the limited common element is reserved. (2) A unit owners' association may not prohibit installation or use of a charging station installed and used in compliance with the requirements of this section. (3) … the unit owners' association shall approve the completed application within 60 days after the unit owner submits the application unless the delay … is based on a reasonable request for additional information."2
Associations would keep the right to require an application, to enforce architectural standards, to charge reasonable cost-recovery for review and permitting, and to impose restrictions that do not "significantly increase the cost … or significantly decrease the efficiency or performance." Installation would have to be by a qualified electrician who "has completed a State registered electrician apprenticeship program."
A predecessor, SB 1125, died in the same Senate Transportation Committee in the 2023-2024 session without any action after referral. Note that both current bills sit in Transportation committees rather than in the housing committees that handle other association legislation — which is part of why they have attracted no attention.
What a board can usefully do now
Decide the policy before an owner forces the question, because deciding it under pressure from a specific request produces worse documents. The components are: an application process with a defined response time, a requirement for a licensed electrician and permits, an electrical-capacity assessment of the building before any approval, allocation of installation and electricity cost to the owner, insurance and indemnification, and a rule on what happens when the owner sells.
The capacity assessment is the one boards skip and the one that causes trouble. An older Pennsylvania condominium's service may not support many chargers, and the order in which owners apply should not decide who gets one.
What to watch next
Whether Pennsylvania's electric distribution companies actually file EV tariffs using telematic submetering, which is what would convert this policy statement into something an association can use. And the 30 November 2026 session end: SB 561 and HB 2463 die then, with no carryover, and would need reintroduction in 2027-2028.
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