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In practice, there are complications in the charging process of electric vehicles, which are often encountered especially in apartment buildings. In order to charge a car in his parking lot, a resident must apply to the electricity distribution service provider to connect the consumption system of that parking lot to the electricity grid for a connection fee, and then sign an electricity supply contract, becoming a separate customer for that consumption point as well. The abovementioned is a costly and time-consuming process, the necessity for which is often absent, since the capacity of the consumption systems of individuals’ apartments, already connected to the grid, is generally sufficient for both ensuring the electricity supply of the apartment and charging an electric vehicle.

The deputy Tsovinar Vardanyan said this at the NA regular sitting, presenting for debate the addenda and amendments being proposed to the law on Energy authored by her, the deputies Arusyak Manavazyan and Alen Simonyan.

The draft law proposes to stipulate that any person, including a consumer, may provide an electric vehicle charging service, which is not a type of activity subject to licensing in the energy sector and is not subject to regulation within the meaning of the aforementioned law. It is also envisaged to create an opportunity for the consumer to consume the electricity supplied to him in a parking lot belonging to him outside the area of ​​​​the consumer’s consumption system and in another residential area registered as an independent property unit, independently connecting these systems to each other in accordance with the current requirements.

According to the Law on Energy, any consumer, in accordance with the same law and market rules, has the right to obtain the status of an autonomous energy producer. An autonomous energy producer is a consumer producing electricity for its own needs using renewable energy resources, who has concluded a cross-flow agreement with a person holding a guaranteed supply license and is not a person holding a production license for the given autonomous energy production facility. The installed capacity of the autonomous energy producer’s facilities cannot exceed 150 kW. The keynote rapporteur clarified that until May 1, 2022, the limiting threshold for autonomous energy producers was not 150 kW, but 500 kW. A situation arises when one of the producers with the same status but operating plants of different capacities can automatically, by renouncing its status, become a participant in the wholesale market, while the other, in order to participate in that market, must obtain an electricity production license in accordance with the current legal regulations. The amendment proposes to allow those operating under the previous regulations to also benefit from the autonomous liberalized.

The member of the Standing Committee on Economic Affairs Narek Ghahramanyan urged his colleagues to vote for it.

The Chairman of the Public Services Regulatory Commission Mesrop Mesropyan noted that the citizens using electric vehicles should be given the opportunity to charge their vehicles. Without denying that there are problems with technical safety, Mesrop Mesropyan emphasized that the supervision must be carried out properly.

In Q&A session and speeches, the participants addressed the issues of ensuring technical safety standards in the charging process of electric vehicles, compliance with fire safety rules, possible risks, the expediency of providing such a privilege to electric vehicles, and other issues. Tsovinar Vardanyan emphasized that a number of concerns raised by the deputies regarding safety standards are not within the scope of regulation of this draft law.

In an extraordinary speech the RA NA Vice President Hakob Arshakyan reminded that our country follows the urban development norms, the EAEU and internationally accepted technical and safety standards.