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Title: What is the Impact of Utility Demand Charges on a DCFC host

Technical Report ·
DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/1369621· OSTI ID:1369621
 [1]
  1. Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

The PEV Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) delivered by The EV Project included both AC Level 2 and DCFC units. Over 100 of these dual-port Blink DC fast chargers were deployed by The EV Project. These DCFCs were installed in workplaces and in publicly accessible locations near traffic hubs, retail centers, parking lots, restaurants, and similar locations. The Blink DCFC is capable of charging at power up to 60 kW. Its dual-port design sequences the charge from one port to the other, delivering power to only one of two vehicles connected at a time. The actual power delivered through a port is determined by the PEV’s on-board battery management system (BMS). Both the power and the total energy used to recharge a PEV can represent a significant cost for the charging site host. Many electric utilities impose fees for power demand as part of their commercial rate structure. The demand charge incurred by a customer is related to the peak power used during a monthly billing cycle. This is in contrast to the cumulative total energy usage that is the more familiar utility charge seen for most residential services. A demand charge is typically assessed for the highest average power over any 15 minute interval during the monthly billing cycle. One objective of The EV Project was to identify and elucidate the motivations and barriers to potential DCFC site hosts. The application of electric utility demand charges is one such potential barrier. This subject was introduced in the paper: DC Fast Charge - Demand Charge Reduction1. It discussed demand charge impact in general terms in order to focus on potential mitigation actions. This paper identifies specific cases in order to quantify the impact of demand charges on EV Project DCFC hosts.

Research Organization:
Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy (EERE)
DOE Contract Number:
AC07-05ID14517
OSTI ID:
1369621
Report Number(s):
INL/EXT-15-35706; TRN: US1701937
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English