We are currently encouraging the introduction of EV charging facilities across our entire Community of some 55 Strata and unmanaged use of common property power as in this example we would consider one of the least desirable routes to go and not to be encouraged. It would appear I need to note that I am a Lot Owner as part of a team looking to develop guidelines to assist Strata in providing EV charging facilities within our Community and have been dealing with many of these issues at the “Coal Face”.
Generally the design load and usage factor on a common property supply can be very limited. In our case the power available in the garage is designed primarily to operate the garage door openers and it is assumed all will not be operating at the same time. This circuit has to power 32 door openers which is fine if only a small percentage are being used at any one time. To use such a circuit for multiple EV chargers is not likely to be sustainable.
I would also suggest that expecting that all users will confine there charging to off peak times is optimistic. Bear in mind that any power usage that impacts on the capacity charge for your common property supply takes 12 months to work itself out of the billing cycle so even if you had 3 chargers working simultaneously for only 5 minutes in peak period it can impact on the billing for the next 12 months. If the peak capacity charge is impacted by even one EV charger this reports to the Owners Corporation irrespective of whether the user pays for the kW used for charging. Refer to Ausgrid for the calculation of the Peak Capacity charge.
There are a wide range of solutions from relatively simple to more complex that ensure that EV charging can be retrofitted without any negative impact on the existing power supply to the overall complex and also ensure that user pays for power which is in the best interest of all Lot Owners. Buildings have already experienced brownouts with the installation of induction cooktops and so the emphasis of being able to install chargers without any increase to the design load is a key factor in getting approval. Connecting chargers without load management into the common property supply is not seen as a way to help allay the fears of the uniformed.
The NSW DPIE will shortly be releasing a document that has been prepared in conjunction with the OCN that will outline many of the available options.
DPIE – Technical Guidelines for Making Residential Buildings EV- ready
In my particular case we have both air conditioning compressors and Lot Owners meters located in the basement garage and with the appropriate interlocks the Lot Owner can use his own metered power within the design capacity of his supply to charge his EV. An excellent solution where available as 100% Lot Owner funded and 100% paid for on his own electricity bill and no impact on the OC peak capacity charge.
This may require a bylaw to run cabling through common property from the meter/compressor to his garage but this option can be a totally user pays model and relatively inexpensive to implement considering the benefits to both the Lot Owner and the Owners Corporation. In many cases within our Community it is not possible to even get a 50% vote at a meeting because of concerns raised by non-informed owners about the risks associated with EV charging. These can be financial risks associated with the use of common property power but more commonly the impact on insurance premiums of which I am unaware of any facts to support this concern.
Certainly in other cases where access to the Lot Owners metered power is not available a more sophisticated common property system might be required but even in this situation for a relatively small expenditure by the Owners Corporation there are options to install EV charging without any negative impact on the overall building supply.
Keep a look out for the DPIE publication when released and assess what options might be applicable to your building.