Regulatory Update: Duke Energy Make-Ready Credit Progress Report

We’ve just hit two years since the North Carolina Utilities Commission (NCUC) approved Duke Energy’s electric vehicle (EV) Make-Ready Credit Program, known better to EV drivers across the state as the “Charger Prep Credit Program.” As part of the program, the NCUC requires Duke Energy to deliver progress reports semiannually, which can provide insight into people’s awareness of the initiative, installation costs of residential and non-residential electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE), and where EV adoption is happening in Duke Energy’s service territories. The electric utility released its most recent report on March 1, 2024.

So, let’s dive in. Here are a few things that stood out to us:

1. Nearly 5,000 Duke Energy customers have taken advantage of the residential Charger Prep Credit Program in the last six months. This is about 35% more customers than applied for the credit during the previous six-month reporting window, which ended in June 2023.
   
   Overall, this finding indicates that make-ready programs are an effective way for utilities to support their customers’ transitions to driving electric. It’s also a clear sign that the light-duty EV market is far from the tapering sales and stalled interest that some media headlines suggest.
   
   
2. Most applicants are opting for the Customer Credit Option. There are two different pathways for accessing the credit — homeowners can do it themselves with the “Customer Credit Option” or allow a contractor from Duke Energy’s network to facilitate the process and handle the application through the “Contractor Credit Option.”
   
   It seems that customers are confident pursuing the credit on their own. While we always want to see a robust contractor network for these services, the high number of Customer Credit Option users shows that Duke Energy’s program is easy to navigate. Customer surveys reveal that 85% of participants are very satisfied with the service through this pathway — well done!
   
   
3. These reports give us insight into the installation costs of residential EVSE. Duke Energy’s tracking of installation costs provides valuable data regarding what EV drivers could expect to pay for Level 2 charging. While there are always customer-specific variables, like the need for panel upgrades, EV drivers can start to trust the install cost (everything but the equipment) of ~$1,300 for a single-family home given the large sample size that Duke Energy has across the state.
   
   
4. Customers are typically opting for 40-48-amp chargers. From our perspective, this is a helpful check on the technical details associated with residential EVSE installation. With home charging, because vehicle dwell times overnight are typically so long, chargers with higher amperages are often unnecessary. With a 40-amp charger, drivers could expect approximately 30 miles of range per hour of charge. In most cases, that’s more than enough. Some EVs may not be able to accept the higher power associated with circuits above 60 amps.
   
5. The demographics of participants shed light on those driving EVs and those not. Participant ages for the residential program are fairly well distributed, but the largest buckets cover 35-44 (approximately 30%) and 65+ (approximately 25%). Participant education level is also notable — nearly 90% of participants specified having received at least a bachelor’s degree. Given that purchase prices of new EVs are falling to be more in line with their internal-combustion counterparts, this pattern will be interesting to watch over time. Unfortunately, this may also be an indicator of education levels associated with those owning their homes, not just owning EVs.

Overall, we’re thrilled to see such high participation in these programs and applaud Duke Energy for its high marks of participant satisfaction.