Author: johnstonier

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BC Carbon Credits: Compliance Reporting Deadline Coming Up

November 2024

Has your strata been charging EVs and collecting carbon credits? Are you paying a high commission to your charging network operator to monetize carbon credits on your behalf?

Carbon Credits (market trade-able assets generated by British Columbia stratas who provide EV charging infrastructure to residents and visitors) are an important part of your cost-recovery opportunities.

If your strata has EV charging infrastructure in place, the Low Carbon Fuels Act in British Columbia provides an opportunity for you to more than recover your costs of electricity from EV charging. With few exceptions, every strata in BC with more than four dwelling units is eligible. In fact, reporting is required by the Act, except there is no penalty in the regulations — but there is the loss of the value of the carbon credits involved.

How much is this worth to your Strata?

Typically, the average EV uses 2,700kWh for 15,000km driving or for a typical strata about $300 worth of electricity. The resulting proceeds are variable and based on market prices at the time of sale, but on recent market pricing per EV value could range up to $1000 to the strata. Best yet, the owner of the carbon credits is the strata, and therefore these new funds flow into the annual strata budget to be used as any other revenue source. It’s a key consideration for councils hoping to provide low fee, cost recovery EV charging services to your residents and guests.


However, not every strata knows about this opportunity or taken it into account when projecting charging revenue. Unfortunately, some early adopters have even signed network service agreement where that revenue goes to the network operator. Credits are reported annually, so that government can validate their eligibility for trading on the open market to organizations seeking to offset their emissions and meet government standards for carbon generation.

How does Carbex help you?

Carbex navigates the complex regulatory compliance system to register and report your credits, and most importantly aggregates your credits to tradable volumes that transport fuel industry buyers are interested in.

Electric Advantage affiliate Carbex Carbon Credit Exchange Corp. is taking on new carbon clients until February 15, 2025 to meet the upcoming spring deadline for processing and reporting 2024 carbon credits.

Contact Carbex

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Tribunal orders B.C. strata to scrap fixed EV-charging fee

November 14, 2024

The news story linked above details how one strata recently lost their ability to charge residents for using EV charging infrastructure. It’s a cautionary tale with lessons for any strata hoping to effectively manage charging expenses and revenues. Cost recovery is an important EV charging operations consideration, as councils work to ensure  recovery of all charging activity costs – or enable a small surplus.

See September 30, 2024 CBC news story here:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/white-rock-strata-ev-charging-fees-1.7337777

EV charging systems can have impacts on electricity and other costs that are not always well understood by strata councils. When deciding how best to manage this challenge, many councils weigh the difference in costs – but they may not have full information about their options.

Some stay out of the details entirely, hiring a network charging company to manage collections. While this approach is easy for the strata, it always involves profits for the network supplier – typically resulting in excessive costs for low mileage EV drivers who pay more in fees than the underlying cost of electricity.

At the other extreme, a council volunteer may do the work to figure out costs for each EV driver and submit this data to the strata property manager for collection per regular monthly strata fees. More work for already busy councils!

Given the recent CRT ruling, understanding all the costs is crucial to avoid disputes and treat your resident users fairly. In the case reported by the CBC, it looks like no one effectively made the argument for the strata’s position or guided them to make a strong  case for their approach before an owner took the matter through the full course to arbitration.

Electric Advantage provides independent advice to strata councils on all matters surrounding EV charging infrastructure.  We support stratas and their property management companies with the analysis, tools and information to properly account for EV charging operations. We also advise on cost effective collection options periodic basis, avoiding the high costs of charging network operator payment schemes and minimizing related workload.

Contact us

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British Columbia Incentives Line Up!

BC leads the country in progressive EV policy. Why do I know? I was an advocate behind them.

Charging your electric car from home is the reason to buy one. Never again do you have to alter your destination course simply to refuel your vehicle. The ‘refueling’ paradigm completely changes. As automobiles are typically parked 95% of the time it makes sense to charge while parked — and you are doing other productive things!

Installing EV charging in single family homes are relatively easy. For MURBs (Multi Unit Residential Buildings) infrastructure is harder to retrofit, overcoming electrical wiring decisions made long ago, and by finding agreement with your neighbours. Most buildings built before 2020 were never designed to support charging infrastructure, and those are in the majority.

Across Canada, 30% of people live in MURBs. 40% in BC, and in the City of Vancouver closer to 60%. That’s a significant part of the EV purchasing public.

The BC Provincial government followed recommendations from organizations like the Vancouver Electric Vehicle Association, and others, who realized best practices for upgrading infrastructure is to build it all at once to a coherent plan. EV Ready and EV Infrastructure grants are based on ensuring that all suites of a MURB have at least one outlet from which to attach an EV charge station. This creates equity for all, and it is the most cost efficient method to retrofit in the long run.

The Federal government, through Natural Resources Canada has grants from time to time on infrastructure, and the summer of 2022 was one such time. Combining BC and Federal grants can cover up to 75% of project costs.

The third layer of incentives for MURB EV Charging, is carbon credits. A change in the Low Carbon Fuel Standard regulations in 2021 enabled MURBs to generate carbon credits for all electricity charging EVs. Effective January 1st, 2022 this regulation took effect, and with the current transfer pricing of carbon credits, this is a substantial cash flow for those who invest in EV charging for their buildings. Also starting in 2022 was the federal Clean Fuel Regulations, adding yet another layer of carbon credit value on to EV charging.

If you have MURB buildings at this time EV charging projects will provide the best return on investment over anything else. Electric Advantage can provide advisory services to help you achieve optimal, successful outcomes.

Contact us now to prepare your building for an EV future.