General Information
The Electric Vehicle Charger Program from Holyoke Gas & Electric (“HG&E”) opens HG&E’s distributed energy resource (“DER”) platform to customers who purchase and install qualifying Level 2 home chargers (“equipment”) in their home. Customers will have the opportunity to earn HG&E bill credits and up-front incentives in exchange for scheduling their electric vehicle charging to occur only during specific hours. The Electric Vehicle Charger Program allows customers to participate in HG&E’s grid transformation efforts with their own Equipment and receive credits for doing so, while also helping to drive down costs for all HG&E customers.
Below are important terms that you must understand and agree to in order to participate in the program. Customers who opt into this program will receive a Monthly Bill Credit and a rebate for a qualifying Level 2 charger. See below for more details.
Terms
1. Eligibility: HG&E residential electric customers with an all-electric vehicle are eligible to participate. You must also be the owner of an account address and have eligible Equipment at that address. Customer’s account must be in good standing with HG&E (6-12 month history of satisfactory payments). If the electric vehicle is being leased, the lease term must be for at least three years.
2. Off-Peak Charging Schedule: Customer agrees to only charge their electric vehicle using Level 2 charging rating from 9:00 p.m. through 7:00 a.m. Monday-Friday, and anytime on weekends. Outside of the above hours, customer agrees the charger will not be used to charge to the vehicle at the higher Level 2 charging output. Customer may reduce charger to a Level 1 charging rating outside of the above hours, which is approximately 1.25 kW (similar to plugging into a standard 120V outlet), if this is an available function.
Emergency and/or Other Peak Situations (Peak Event): In addition to the above charging schedule, customer agrees not to charge at Level 2 speed during emergency “Peak Events,” periods of high stress on the electrical distribution system, which may occur outside of the hours defined above. HG&E anticipates these emergency Peak Events to happen around 2 to 5 times per year. A notification of the Peak Event will be sent to the Customer via preferred electronic method as selected in initial application. Customers failing to curtail during these emergency Peak Events will not be considered Opting Out, however Customer will not receive a Monthly Bill Credit per paragraph 12 below. Peak Events occurring within the Off-Peak Charging Schedule are anticipated to occur an average of 2 to 5 times per year for an average of 3 to 6 hours at a time.
3. Verification of Charging Schedule: HG&E will require Customer to provide sufficient proof to verify the Off-Peak Charging Schedule is being met.
4. Charging Disruption: In the event that the charger is not capable of being used at Level 2 charging speed at the installation address listed in the Customer application, or if customer no longer has an electric vehicle capable of charging at the Level 2 speed for a period longer than 30 days, monthly bill credits will cease or this Agreement will be terminated in accordance with Paragraph 9. A monthly bill credit Customer may opt back into the program if the Level 2 charging capability is restored at a future date, and the Customer pays a $15 re-enrollment fee. In those circumstances, Monthly Bill Credits will thereafter resume. Re-enrollment as provided herein may only happen once annually.
5. Data Access: As part of this program, you agree to allow HG&E to have access and use of certain Customer data and information, including energy usage and consumption data, as well as personally identifiable information. By signing up to participate in the Electric Vehicle Charger Program, you consent to this information being accessed by HG&E. This information will be used to assist in programming, reporting, and monitoring, as well as other uses consistent with HG&E’s Privacy Policy (available upon request).
6. Acknowledgment of Customer: Customer agrees to conform to the Off-Peak Charging Schedule as defined in paragraph 2. You acknowledge that you remain responsible for maintenance, repair and replacement of the Equipment.
7. Advanced Metering Infrastructure (AMI) Monitoring: HG&E reserves the right to monitor and verify that the Customer is following the Off-Peak Charging Schedule as defined in paragraph 2, which is made available through the AMI system.
8. Enrollment & Term: This Agreement shall commence upon your enrollment and shall continue for a period of three years (the “Initial Term”), renewing annually after the Initial Term unless terminated in accordance with paragraph 9.
9. Termination: Either party may terminate this Agreement within the Initial Term by providing the other party 30 days’ written notice of termination. Upon termination, customers will no longer receive the Monthly Bill Credit.
If Customer terminates Agreement within Initial Term, Customer will be charged a one-time pro-rated fee on the Customer’s next monthly utility bill in the amount of $12.50 per month remaining within the Initial Term. Either party may terminate this Agreement during any renewal period upon providing the other party 30 day’s written notice of termination, upon which no further obligations are required of either party. Closing a Customer account will be considered terminating this agreement, unless the Agreement is Assigned to another party within HG&E territory and will accept the terms of this Agreement per paragraph 10.
10. Change in Home Ownership: You acknowledge that you are required to own the premises where the equipment is installed. By signing below, you represent that you own the premises where the Equipment is installed. You agree to provide HG&E with 30 days advance written notice of a sale of the home where the equipment is installed. In the event of a sale, you may choose to terminate this Agreement in accordance with paragraph 9, or if the parties agree, the new owner may assume this Agreement in writing. You are responsible for providing HG&E with an executed Assignment and assumption agreement, in a form provided by or acceptable to HG&E for our records.
Assignments that attempt to relieve you from responsibility for sums incurred prior to the sale are not permitted. Sale or transfer of the Equipment to a third party who has not assumed this agreement shall constitute automatic termination of this Agreement, and in that case, monthly incentives shall cease and you will be billed for any up-front incentive on a pro-rated basis consistent with paragraph 9.
11. Monthly Bill Credit Terms
The Electric Vehicle Charger Program offers a Monthly Bill Credit of $5.00-$10.00 to customers who enroll an eligible Level 2 Charger in the program. Customers may opt out of Off-Peak Charging Schedule and/or Peak Event from paragraph 2; however, forego the monthly bill credit for that month. If Customer opts out per paragraph 2 in three months within any twelve-month period, this Agreement will be terminated per paragraph 9. The Monthly Bill Credit will take effect in the first full billing month after the Customer has signed this Agreement and HG&E has verified conditions of this Agreement have been met.
12. One Time Upfront Incentive Terms:
HG&E agrees to provide to the residential Customer one-time rebate for the purchase of an Electric Vehicle (EV) and the installation of a smart Level 2 charger at the Customer residence. Rebate will be in the form of a one-time bill credit to occur on the bill effect in the first full billing month after the Customer has signed this Agreement and HG&E has verified conditions of this Agreement have been met. To receive a rebate for a Level 2 charger, charger must have been purchased/acquired within past 15 months and must have been new when obtained. For BEV (fully electric) owners, the rebate amount will be determined based on the cost of the charger, up to $450. For PHEV owners, the rebate amount will be 50% of the cost of the charger, up to $200.
i. Proof of EV and Charger Purchase: Customer will provide proof of EV purchase along with proof of Level 2 Charger purchase or installation. If there is no way to provide proof of Level 2 charger purchase or installation, HG&E should be able to determine if a Level 2 charger exists through its AMI system. If it is still not able to determine the existence of a Level 2 charger, scheduling an appointment with an HG&E representative is required for verification. The address listed on the vehicle's registration must match the HG&E account address.
ii. Proof of Off-Peak Charging Schedule: Customer will also provide proof of Off-Peak Charging Schedule with this application. Required Off-Peak Charging Schedule can be found in paragraph 2. An example of proof of Off-Peak Charging Schedule could be in the form of a screenshot from a smartphone app or picture of the schedule on the EV internal dashboard.
The intention of this program is to provide one and only one Level 2 charger rebate per household. Multifamily homes, townhouses or other dwellings with separate individual meters may be eligible for separate charger rebates. Renters must provide proof of approval for installation of a Level 2 charger from the property owner/landlord to be eligible to participate in this program.
13. Application of Monthly Bill Credits, Upfront Incentive & Monthly Fee: Monthly Bill Credits will be applied to your HG&E utility bill. Bill credits from this program are not interchangeable or applicable to other bill credit programs. Upfront incentives will be applied to the Customer’s month bill within approximately 6 weeks of HG&E confirming the functionality of the installed system.
14. Liability: HG&E shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, special or consequential damages to any persons or property resulting from or arising out of any use, repair, delay in repairing, replacement of, modification to, unavailability of, or charging status of the Equipment. HG&E is not responsible for any costs related to the repair, maintenance or replacement of your Equipment. If replacement of your Equipment is necessary, you must notify HG&E.
15. Indemnification: You shall indemnify and hold harmless HG&E for any injury or damage to any persons or property arising from HG&E’s access and use of the Equipment, or caused by any breach of this Agreement by you, your negligence or that of your household members, agents, servants, employees, tenants, licensees, invitees, tenant’s invitees, or independent contractors.
16. Notice: The Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Customer agrees that HG&E may change, add to, and delete from the terms and conditions of this Agreement. This can happen at any time, with HG&E providing Customer with 30 days written notice of the change. If Customer does not notify HG&E that the Customer is terminating the Agreement at least 30 days before the effective date of the change, Customer will have agreed to the change. No change will be effective unless accepted or authorized by HG&E in writing.
HG&E and Customer intend for this Agreement to be a final expression and a complete and exclusive statement of the terms of their Agreement, superseding all prior Agreements and understandings, whether written or oral. No delay or omission by either party in exercising any right under this Agreement shall operate as a waiver of that or any other right. If any provision of the Agreement is invalid, such provision shall be deemed omitted, but the remaining provisions of the Agreement shall be given full force and effect. All notices hereunder shall be provided to HG&E at 99 Suffolk Street, Holyoke, MA 01040 and to Customer at the address below.
17. Miscellaneous: Equipment eligibility is at the sole discretion of HG&E. Equipment that is enrolled in other HG&E tariff or incentive programs is not eligible. A single piece of Equipment can be enrolled in an up-front incentive program and the monthly credit program.
By completing the Electric Vehicle Charger Program application, I agree that I have read and understand the above Terms of this Agreement.