ATLANTA – A legislative committee on Wednesday passed a bill aimed at creating a framework for the sale and taxation of electricity to electric vehicle drivers in Georgia.
The House Technology & Infrastructure Innovation Committee unanimously passed House Bill 406 and sent it to the House Rules Committee for a House-wide vote.
The legislation stems from work last year by a joint legislative study committee examining how the state should prepare for an expected influx of electric vehicles in the coming years.
Georgia receives $135 million in federal funding to build a statewide network of electric vehicle charging stations. Most stations are likely to be in restaurants and convenience stores, although utility companies like Georgia Power also own and operate charging stations.
House Bill 406 would allow retailers to charge EV drivers for electricity per kilowatt hour. Currently, the charges are based on the time a vehicle is connected to the charging station.
The Georgia Department of Agriculture would be responsible for testing and inspecting EV chargers for safety and accuracy, as the agency currently does with gasoline pumps.
EV motorists would pay an excise tax on the electricity they purchase. The Georgia Department of Revenue would set the tax rate at a level that would generate the same revenue that the state receives from the gas tax.
“The goal is to ensure that we maintain our funding as we transition from carbon-based fuel to electric,” said Rep. Rick Jasperse, R-Jasper, the lead sponsor of the bill. “We have to make sure everyone pays their fair share.”
Jasperse said Georgia is ahead of other states in the concept of taxing the electricity that powers electric vehicles like gasoline.
“We are the leader,” he said. “We are absolutely at the cutting edge.”
Representatives from Georgia utility companies and convenience stores, who have worked with lawmakers on issues related to electric vehicle charging for a number of years, supported the bill Wednesday, specifically selling the electricity per kilowatt-hour.
“We believe this is a good opportunity to move the needle towards electric,” said Angela Holland, president of the Georgia Association of Convenience Stores.
However, Holland and others have expressed concern about how to ensure that utilities and convenience stores charge the same tariffs for the electricity they sell to EVs and how to legislate for EV charging in apartment buildings and workplaces. Currently, Georgians who charge their electric vehicles at home pay an annual fee of $216 to offset the loss of tax revenue to the state because they don’t use gas.
Katherine Russell, director of policy for the Department of Agriculture, said her agency will not be able to carry out the testing and inspections of EV chargers that the bill will mandate anytime soon.
“This is an emerging technology,” she said. “Some of the test devices are not commercially available. We would like some time to catch up.”
The section of the bill dealing with the Department of Agriculture’s regulator would not come into effect until mid-2025, but Jasperse said that might have to be postponed.
A similar electric vehicle bill is now before the Georgia Senate Regulated Industries Committee.
