Mpls. offers incentives for EV chargers in new garages after state code blocks requirement

Trying to tackle one of the biggest challenges in the shift to electric vehicles — the lack of at-home charging at apartments and condos — the City of Minneapolis last year required electric vehicles chargers to be installed in the parking garages of most new construction.

The effort hit an unexpected roadblock.

A state building code official informed Minneapolis that a provision in state law prohibits cities from adopting an ordinance to require building components or systems that differ from those in state building code. The city's new ordinance violated that provision, the official said, even though the state building code says nothing about electric vehicles.

So in October, Minneapolis amended the ordinance. Now, instead of requiring wiring and chargers in new garages, it's trying to lure developers to add them with incentives.

The state pushback was a surprise, said Stacy Miller, Minneapolis' sustainability program coordinator. A lot of time was spent on the initial ordinance, she said, and the vast shortage of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in multifamily buildings needs to be addressed.

"Most often the developer seems unwilling to include EV infrastructure," Miller said.

The code conflict is not unique to Minnesota, said Ben Rabe, project manager at New Buildings Institute, a Portland-based nonprofit focused on building codes. Across the country local governments are plotting how to meet greenhouse gas reduction goals — and wading into a gray area in many state building codes on just who has jurisdiction over adding EV charging station infrastructure.

"EV charging is in a weird kind of dead zone," said Rabe.

Rabe called it "silly" to build a building with parking that's not EV ready. Cities and states will get more direction on it when the new International Energy Conservation Code comes out in 2024, which is expected to address EV charging, he said. But Minnesota may move faster given that next year Democrats will control the Minnesota House, Senate and Governor's office.

Miller, the Minneapolis sustainability coordinator, noted that offering developers points for providing entirely enclosed or underground parking is a popular incentive many take advantage of in Minneapolis. It remains to be seen how they will take to a new EV charging incentive.

Kelly Doran, founder and principal of Bloomington-based Doran Group, declined to comment on the new EV incentive. He cautioned that the city must balance the need for affordable housing with the costs of EV infrastructure. He estimates the pre-wiring costs $3,000-$5,000 per stall, although some Minneapolis officials say it's more like $2,000-$4,000.

Nonetheless, Doran Group has moved ahead on its own. The company decided a few years ago to add electrical components to 20% of the garage stalls in its new construction that allows an EV charger to be installed, Doran said.

Doran said they have wired a handful of upscale developments so far, such as The Expo in the Marcy-Holmes neighborhood. The wired stalls aren't filled up yet — but they will be, he said.

"It's comin'," Doran said. "I think that's just a given and we just wanted to be prepared for that."

THE CODE

The Minnesota State Building Code, 50 years old now, was created by the Legislature to establish one set of consistent standards of construction. It gets updated every few years. But it's mum on EV charging in buildings.

The Legislature would have to give the Minnesota Department of Labor and Industry, keeper of the code, the authority to add language about it, said Scott McLellan, the Department's director of construction codes and licensing. That's something lawmakers have proposed.

According to McLellan, cities in Minnesota can regulate electric vehicle charging stations as a condition of their land use ordinances or zoning ordinance on surface parking, which aren't covered by the state building code. However, they cannot require them as part of building construction, such as an underground parking garage.

There's nothing stopping building owners from voluntarily installing chargers, he noted.

If the Legislature grants it the EV charging authority, the Department would still need to agree on language and go through state rulemaking, McLellan said, a process that could take at least a year.

Last session, Minneapolis DFL-er Rep. Jamie Long introduced a measure to change the code to require a minimum number of EV ready spaces, capable spaces and charging stations in or adjacent to new commercial and multifamily structures with on-site parking structures. It exempts residential buildings with less than four units.

Long said that as the new House majority leader he won't be introducing as many bills, but someone will bring the EV measure again this session.

"We can't get caught behind in allowing all Minnesotans to access charging infrastructure," Long said. "It's is a lot cheaper to do this work on the front end than on the back end."

The change only addresses new construction, of course, and not existing rentals.

The problem is so acute that Pavel Ihnatovich, owner of GS Motors in Hopkins which specializes in used EVs, testified last session that he discourages customers who are renters from buying an EV if they have no at-home chargers because it just isn't workable to rely on public charging. Before he screened them, he said, a huge number of buyers were returning the EVs they bought.

POINTS FOR EV WIRING

Meanwhile, Minneapolis will see if developers take the carrots being dangled.

The point system in the city's zoning ordinance allows builders extra square footage or height in a building, for example, if they provide one or more approved amenities, explained Joe Bernard, a planning project manager with the City's Community Planning & Economic Development department.

Adding wiring for higher-powered Level 2 electric vehicle chargers is now one of the choices. A developer can't get points for doing underground parking unless a certain amount of that EV infrastructure is included, he said. For points, 5% of the building's parking stalls must have a Level 2 charger installed, with an additional 10% of the stalls wired for one.

Bernard said he was disappointed the city had to back down from the requirement but is encouraged to see developers such as Doran moving ahead on their own: "The market is moving in that direction."