Oklahoma regulators are preparing emergency rulemaking to begin creation of tax revenue collection on commercial electric vehicle charging stations across the state.

The Corporation Commission announced in recent days plans to hold a technical conference on October 20 with an October 22 deadline to receive comments about the rules that will apply to the resale of electricity from EV charging stations that are not public utilities.

The taxation of electric vehicle charging stations was assigned the responsibility of the Corporation Commission through the legislature and the adoption of House Bill 2234, the Driving on Road Infrastructure with Vehicles of Electricity (DRIVE) Act of 2021.

Authored by Rep. Kyle Hilbert (R) District 29 and Sen. Zack Taylor (R) District 28, the measure passed the House on a 90-7 vote and the Senate on a vote of 43-3 and was signed into law by Gov. Stitt on April 22. The law will take effect Nov. 1 of this year but the actual tax collection on the charging stations won’t begin until 2023.

Just as the Corporation Commission regulates commercial gasoline and diesel fuel pumps and has the responsibility of inspecting them, it will also have the same designation for EV charging stations. As a result, its agents will have the authority to inspect the EV stations and ensure periodic testing, calibration and inspection reports.

Tax revenue collected from the EV charging stations will be used for highway maintenance across the state. As the new law declared, 85% will be apportioned to the DRIVE revolving fund and 15% will go to the various counties.

The tax to be imposed will be $0.07 per kilowatt hour on the electric current used to charge or recharge the EV and won’t be levied until Jan. 1, 2023, according to the new statute.