RIYADH — The prices for charging service of electric vehicles (EV) are not subject to regulation, and are left to the supply and demand equations of the market to determine them, according to the regulatory framework document for charging of EVs, approved by the Kingdom's Electricity & Cogeneration Regulatory Authority. This is after taking into consideration the regulations that are in place to combat monopoly and unfair competition, and the authority has the jurisdiction to set a higher ceiling for the service price as the EV market evolves. It is also stipulated that the sale of electricity shall only be from charging stations or electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) associated with establishments that come under the commercial consumption category. The electricity regulator's decision obligated the distribution service provider to develop the necessary procedures to deal with requests for service delivery to electric vehicle charging stations and to finalize all relevant internal equipment and systems within two months of the new decision that came into force on Friday (Dec. 4). Owners and operators of electric vehicle charging stations or EVSE shall comply with the technical requirements issued by the authority, especially the requirements for the distribution code, in addition to the technical requirements issued by the distribution service provider at the proposed site for the installation of the charging device. The approval of the distribution service provider must be obtained before installing and operating any stations or equipment for charging electric vehicles so as to ensure the availability of the required electrical load or to allocate a source for the electrical power supply. According to the regulatory framework, the distribution service providers and the retail service providers are obligated to apply the approved tariff on feeding stations or EVSE in accordance with the consumption category of the facility connected to it, and that is on the basis of the provisions of the Electric Service Provision Guide.
