Should you not tell SDGE about the Leaf charging?

I've heard that you shouldn't tell SDGE about a new addition of the Leaf to the household. Something about their potential to charge you more later for charging an electric vehicle, or the state of CA being able to charge Leaf users the lost "gas tax" that they will eventually want to impose on EV users.
Has anyone else heard this? I'm getting my Leaf tomorrow.

Also, SDGE is telling me that in order to "qualify" for time of use (TOU) rate schedule, my monthly electricity usage has to be higher than 2,000 kWh per month. Is this correct? Someone else told me that legally, users can choose which rate plan to be on???

Thanks for the help and suggestions.

JustAnotherMile said:

I've heard that you shouldn't tell SDGE about a new addition of the Leaf to the household. ...

Click to expand...

That's just silly. If and when any sort of EV tax were imposed, they would use surely use the DMV records to find you, not rely on some nebulous "knowing" on SDG&Es part. That said, there's also no overriding reason to tell SDG&E unless you're interested in one of the EV rate schedules.

I've heard that the utility companies like to know so they can make sure the transformer serving the little cluster of houses in your neighborhood continues to be up to the task. Nothing nefarious about it....just an "abundance of caution" thing.

2,000 kWh :shock: No that is a flat out false statement.

I normally post on the board as a Leaf enthusiast, but since I work for SDG&E in the Clean Transportation group I wanted to post a clarifying response to the questions above...

SDG&E does offer Time of Use rate options for PEVs that are voluntary. You can get more official information about these options at the company website:

http://www.sdge.com/cleantransportation

The only qualification I'm aware of for the TOU rates for PEVs is actually owning a PEV; I don't believe that usage is a trigger for the rate. There are email links on the website where you can ask additional questions...

As to the second part of your question...If you are part of the ECOtality project, then you will be assigned a TOU rate randomly for that project / study. The choice of having a second meter installed is yours to make.

As far as SDG&E knowing about the location of your PEV / EVSE, MWalsh is correct...The main reason why the company wants to know about the locations of PEVs/EVSEs is because of the additional loading that they put on existing distribution circuits. While the density may be low now and not as much of an electrical concern, it could be an issue down the road when several EVSEs are in close proximity on the same circuit / transformer and are charging at the same time. All utilities (not just SDG&E) are interested in tracking this new load in order to provide high quality service to customers, and will upgrade infrastructure as necessary to serve our customers.

As far as your question about the gas tax, the utility cannot share information with anyone about its customers.

I hope this helps to answer your questions. I would encourage you to check out the company website and ask further questions via the email links...

Randy