New & Notable

New Resource for Installing EV Charging Stations

A free educational guide for property managers, unit owners and condo boards aims to demystify the complex process of installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in multi-unit residential buildings.

Demand for EVs is on the rise. KPMG Canada estimates that 68 per cent of Canadians will consider buying one as their next vehicle purchase. EV advocates say home charging infrastructure will need to keep up with expected demand.

Murbly, an online platform that offers educational resources and tools to simplify EV charging installation in MURBs, produced the nation-wide “EV Ready Planning: A Guide for MURBs,” with financial support from Natural Resources Canada. It contains guidance for making a building “EV ready,” depending on the region. Adding charging equipment in multi-unit dwellings doesn’t only affect EV owners.

“In recent years, we have noticed more and more concerns from multi-unit residential buildings’ residents regarding the charging possibility that their building offers,” says MariePier Corbeil, co-founder of Murbly. “The requests come not only from electric vehicle owners, but also from residents who do not want their property’s value to drop due to lack of access to charging.”

The guide is about thirty pages long and attempts to detail all necessary steps, with a range of resources depending on the region.

Ontario to tweak electricity rebate criteria

A proposed regulatory clarification would ensure that all residential customers benefit equally from the Ontario Electricity Rebate (OER). A recent posting on Ontario’s regulatory registry suggests the government will explicitly state that separately metered hydro accounts for common areas of multi-residential buildings will qualify for the rebate, which currently provides an 18.9 per cent discount on the pre-tax costs of electricity consumption, transmission and distribution.

Common area accounts registering more than 250,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of consumption annually have been somewhat in limbo since the provincial government introduced the OER in November 2019. They receive the rebate under a grandfathering provision that’s slated to end on October 31, 2021, after which, the Ontario Energy Board (OEB) has determined they do not meet the criteria set out in the enabling regulation. Meanwhile, the rebate does apply on all the same electricity-using elements for any amount of consumption in a bulk-metered building, where a single hydro accounts covers the common areas and all residential suites.

Proposed regulatory amendments would redefine eligibility for the rebate to address the uncertainty around large common area accounts, mobile home parks with year-round residents and multi-residential formats with shared kitchen and bathroom facilities. The Ministry of Energy, Northern Development and Mines is accepting comments until July 26, 2021.