By The Star Staff
After a conversation with the acting Consumer Affairs (DACO) secretary Lisoannette González, New Progressive Party Representative Víctor Parés Otero on Sunday announced the filing of a resolution to order the agency to create a regulation on the marketing, sale, distribution and dispatch of electric charging to vehicles at charging stations in Puerto Rico.
“There is no doubt that the future lies in electric vehicles. Essential to this are the electric charging stations that are being developed in various parts of the island …,” Parés Otero said. “However, at this time, the agency that regulates the processes of the sale and dispatch of gasoline, DACO, lacks the legal authority to do the same with these recharging stations. That is why we are filing a resolution to order the development of a new regulation which will be the basis for the regulation of these charging stations.”
According to the parameters of Law 81-2014, in addition to establishing a complete exemption in the payment of taxes to all electric vehicles, the law eliminates all types of obstacles to the establishment of the necessary infrastructure for the installation and use of vehicle charging stations powered mostly by electricity. However, the San Juan District 4 representative said, the law focuses on stations located in horizontal housing complexes (condominiums) and not on electric charging stations.
The Highways and Transportation Authority (ACT by its Spanish acronym) began the process of creating new charging stations on state highways PR-2, PR-22 and PR-52 as part of a first phase of a project that seeks to establish a network of charging stations throughout the island.
“According to the data available by the ACT, the Department of Transportation and Public Works and the Department of Treasury, in Puerto Rico there are currently between 2,500 and 4,000 electric vehicles traveling on the roadways, a figure that will increase exponentially in the coming months,” Parés Otero said. “That is why the creation of this network is imperative, as is the regulatory framework for it. That is why we discussed the matter with the secretary of DACO and after that conversation, we are going to file the resolution that empowers that agency to make the regulation for this nascent industry.”
“Let’s remember that these stations have so-called ‘superchargers,’ which means that in approximately 15 minutes electric cars are charged,” the legislator added. “The regulatory structure has to be on a par with the creation of the charging stations. We understand that DACO, through this resolution, can finally make the regulation to guarantee the rights of consumers in these stations.”