The Department of Energy (DOE) will be enforcing "unbundled charging fee" for entities or companies that will be rolling out electric vehicle (EV) charging facilities in the country.

The DOE- Energy Utilization Management Bureau (DOE-EUMB) has already announced formally that it will start accepting applications for the unbundling of "charging fee" that will be imposed by the EV charging station (EVCS) providers or operators.

The charging fee is the cost that will be collected from consumers on the use of the EV charging facilities – primarily those that are intended for commercial utilization, according to the energy department.

As fleshed out, the EV charging fee could be formulated as: fixed fees; variable or consumption fees; time-based fees; service-based fees, cashless payment or a mixed bag of the proposed methodologies.

A DOE Circular issued in May primarily stipulated that a charging fee would refer to “the amount imposed on EV users in exchange for the use of commercial use charging stations (CUCS) whose individual components shall be unbundled.”

For the accredited EVCS providers or operators, the DOE-EUMB emphasized that it will review “the notices for charging fees for the completeness of unbundled processes.”

The agency similarly apprised prospective EVCS providers and operators that “incomplete applications will be returned,” adding that “all unbundled charging fees are forwarded to EUMB as notices of adjustment.”

Further, the DOE conveyed that “upon complete submission of the unbundled charging fee structure, the EUMB shall within two working days determine the completeness of the application documents.”

It firmly stated that all EVCS providers/operators are required to comply with the: “non-imposition and/or collection of fees without the approved unbundled charging fee.”

The EV charging facility operator is likewise mandated to “allow the authorized representative from the EUMB full access to its facilities and other pertinent records for the purpose of verification of corresponding unbundled charging fees.”

According to the DOE, “the application of unbundled charging fee of EVCS shall show the coverage on a per city/municipality basis,” and “in cases where multiple cities or municipalities have common unbundling structures, a report covering region/s will be accepted by the EUMB.”