EV Charging Strategy + Metering + Billing Kit

Decide why you're deploying EV charging, where it goes, how it's metered, and how billing works (beginner-friendly)

Decision KitsDecision Kit90 min

What you'll accomplish

  • Define the purpose of EV charging (amenity, fleet, revenue, compliance)
  • Choose charging types and deployment phases
  • Avoid electrical capacity surprises with a simple screening process
  • Decide metering and billing architecture (so costs don't become untracked leakage)
  • Set operating rules: pricing, access, maintenance, and reporting
  • Integrate EV charging with peak demand management

Who this is for

  • •Owners/operators adding charging for tenants, employees, customers, or fleets
  • •Facilities teams dealing with electrical constraints
  • •Finance teams who want clear cost recovery and reporting
  • •Sustainability teams aligning with electrification goals

When to use this

Use this when:

  • •You are planning EV charging rollout
  • •Tenants/customers are requesting chargers
  • •You need to prevent EV load from causing demand charge spikes
  • •You need a billing policy that won't create conflict

Prerequisites (minimum viable)

  • •Site roster and parking inventory
  • •Basic electricity bill info (tariff type, demand charges)
  • •A basic understanding of who controls the electrical infrastructure

Related resources:

Quick start (90 minutes)

For one pilot site:

  • Define the primary use case (Template 1)
  • Identify candidate parking areas and access constraints
  • Estimate electrical capacity risk (Template 2)
  • Decide charging type and count (Template 3)
  • Choose metering/billing model (Template 4)
  • Draft operating policy (Template 7)

EV charging in plain English

EV charging creates:

  • •a new electric load (kW)
  • •a new energy consumption stream (kWh)
  • •a new stakeholder expectation (availability and fairness)
  • •potential demand charge risk if unmanaged

Beginner rule: EV charging is not "install and forget." It requires policy + metering + operations.

Step-by-step

Step 1 — Define your use case (pick one primary)

Common use cases:

  • •Tenant amenity (multi-tenant parking)
  • •Employee charging (office)
  • •Customer/visitor charging (retail/hospitality)
  • •Fleet charging (operations vehicles)

Each use case changes:

  • •dwell time assumptions
  • •charger type selection
  • •billing approach
  • •uptime and maintenance expectations

Step 2 — Choose charger type (basic)

  • •Level 2: common for longer dwell times
  • •DC fast charging: for short dwell times; higher electrical and cost complexity

Start with Level 2 unless you have a clear fast-charging need.

Step 3 — Capacity and peak risk screening

Minimum checks:

  • •where is the electrical room relative to parking?
  • •are you near capacity limits (unknown is fine—log it)
  • •are demand charges significant?
  • •will chargers run during peak windows?

Step 4 — Decide metering and billing model

Common metering models:

  • •Separate EV submeter (best for clarity)
  • •Charger network reporting as proxy (acceptable if documented)
  • •Allocation (last resort)

Billing approaches:

  • •Free (amenity) with usage caps
  • •Flat fee (simple, can be unfair)
  • •Pay-per-kWh (best if allowed and supported)
  • •Time-based pricing (common, aligns with dwell time)
  • •Tenant recharge (for dedicated chargers)

Beginner rule: If you can't measure EV kWh, you can't govern EV costs.

Step 5 — Define operating policy

You need:

  • •access rules (who can use)
  • •pricing rules (and changes)
  • •uptime expectations
  • •maintenance process
  • •usage reporting cadence

Step 6 — Integrate load management

Use:

  • •scheduling
  • •power sharing across ports
  • •peak window caps
  • •"smart charging" policies

Templates

Template 1 — Use Case Definition

EV Charging Use Case

EV Charging Use Case

Site:
Primary users:
[ ] Tenants
[ ] Employees
[ ] Customers
[ ] Fleet

Primary objective:
[ ] Amenity
[ ] Revenue/cost recovery
[ ] Compliance/requirements
[ ] Fleet readiness

Success metrics:
- # active users
- uptime %
- cost recovery %
- peak impact controlled (Y/N)

Template 2 — Site Screening Checklist

EV Site Screening Checklist

EV Site Screening Checklist

- Parking area location and access constraints documented
- Electrical room distance (rough) documented
- Demand charges significant? (Y/N)
- Peak window risk (chargers likely active during peak)? (Y/N)
- Metering option identified (submeter / network data / other)
- Approval path and stakeholders identified

Template 3 — Charger Deployment Plan

Charger Deployment Plan

| Site | Charger type | # ports | Phase (pilot/scale) | Installation constraints | Load management needed? | Notes |
|---|---|---:|---|---|---|---|

Template 4 — Metering and Billing Decision Table

Metering & Billing Decision Table

| Option | Metering clarity | Billing flexibility | Implementation complexity | Recommended when | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EV submeter | High | High | Medium | multi-tenant, cost recovery |  |
| Network data proxy | Medium | Medium | Low | fast pilot | document limits |
| Allocation | Low | Low | Low | last resort | time-bound |

Template 5 — Pricing Policy Starter

EV Pricing Policy

EV Pricing Policy (Starter)

Pricing model:
[ ] Free with caps
[ ] Flat monthly fee
[ ] Pay per kWh
[ ] Time-based

Peak window policy:
- higher price or power cap during peak windows (optional)

Rules:
- idle fees (Y/N)
- max session time:
- access (who can use):

Template 6 — Ops Runbook

EV Charging Ops Runbook

EV Charging Ops Runbook

Network provider:
Admin access stored:
Maintenance vendor:
Response time expectations:
Uptime target:
Monthly usage reporting owner:
Evidence/storage location:

Template 7 — Tenant/Stakeholder Communication

EV Charging Communication

EV Charging Communication (Starter)

What's available:
- locations and how to access
- pricing and rules
- support contact

Why rules exist:
- fairness and availability
- managing peak demand and costs

Common pitfalls

  • Installing chargers without metering and billing clarity
  • Creating demand spikes that increase utility costs
  • No maintenance ownership → broken chargers and reputational damage
  • Pricing policy not documented → conflict
  • Deploying too many chargers before learning from a pilot

Change log

v1.0 (2026-01): Latest release