ChargeUK, which represents operators, says charging stations are being squeezed by network charges that have increased dramatically in just a few years.
In one example, major charging provider Osprey said its bills at a site in Wolverhampton had increased from £87 per year to £33,651 per year since 2022 – an increase of 38,579%.
Rival Fastned said it was now paying £41,000 a year for a site in Hamilton, South Lanarkshire, while a third charging provider complained that its network charges had increased by 250% in just four years and are now “well into six figures”.
Network charges are levied to fund the maintenance and expansion of Britain’s electricity grid, which is undergoing a once-in-a-generation overhaul as part of plans to reach Net Zero.
These charges are set by Ofgem, the regulator, based on cost projections provided by network companies such as the National Grid.
The large rise in network charges follows changes to how they are calculated, made in 2023, with greater emphasis now being put on the size of a site’s grid connection rather than power consumption.
However, ChargeUK says the system now effectively penalises EV charging companies for “building ahead of demand” even though this is what the Government is urging them to do.
Ministers have set a target of 300,000 public EV chargers by 2030 and a string of reports by Parliament and think tanks have repeatedly identified charger availability as key to tackling so-called “range anxiety”....<<<Read More>>>...
