Rhode Island Energy EV FAQ

• EVDR program is a program offered by Rhode Island Energy designed to help EV owners earn money while charging at home. By allowing Rhode Island Energy to make brief adjustments to a participant’s charging schedule and speed it will help manage impacts on the electrical system during periods of high electric demand. By participating in the program, you are helping Rhode Island Energy manage energy use during pre-defined times when energy use is exceptionally high. The EVDR program seeks to take some of the strain off the grid during those busier times of the day to avoid costly upgrades to the electrical system. This will help Rhode Island Energy maintain reliability and affordability for all Rhode Island Energy customers.

• With the EVDR program, you can earn a $50 virtual prepaid Mastercard® for enrolling your qualifying Level 2 charger or EV. You agree to let Rhode Island Energy make brief adjustments to your EV or charger’s energy use during periods of increased electric demand.

• Earn a $20 Prepaid Mastercard each additional year of participation.

• Adjustment events can occur any day of the week except on holidays. Typical event times are between 3-8pm during the summer. There are a maximum of 60 demand response events per year. You will be notified before an event via your charger’s app or EV. You can opt out of an event at any time by adjusting your charging speed back to its normal settings.

See the chart below for eligible charging equipment. Your charger must be installed and activated with internet connectivity prior to enrollment. Your Wi-Fi connection and EV charger(s) must be connected to your EV charger manufacturer’s account. You must have an account with your EV charger’s manufacturer to enroll in the program. If you do not have one, you will need to establish one prior to enrollment.

Note: All sub-models of the CPH50 are eligible including all plug types, connector types and hardwire/plug-in.

Some vehicle manufacturers require a subscription to utilize the telematics capabilities of the vehicle. Participants should be aware of these fees before enrolling.

For more information about the charging equipment list above, please visit the manufacturers’ websites. Customers must have one of the chargers listed above to be eligible for the EVDR program at this time. As chargers from other manufacturers become eligible, we will add them to the list.

No, you must enroll one or the other.

Yes, you are able to enroll multiple EVs.

Rhode Island Energy will provide email confirmation of your status in the program. It could take up to two weeks to see an email confirmation of acceptance into the program.

The one-time $50 enrollment incentive will be issued in the form of a Prepaid Mastercard. If you remain in the program, you will receive a $20 annual incentive at the end of the season.

You can find the program terms and conditions for the EV charger manufacturers here:

Depending on the EV charger manufacturer, notifications may appear before or at the start of the event in your web or mobile application.

At the start of an event, your charger will be automatically adjusted to delay the vehicle charging. The adjustment will typically last no more than three hours and will not occur on holidays. Once the demand response event is over, your charger will return to its normal operation. You can opt out of an event at any time from your charger manufacturer’s mobile app.

Events will only temporarily delay the vehicle charging for up to a few hours, with minimal impact to the ability for your vehicle to get the charge it needs every day.

Yes. At any time during an event, you can opt out from your charger manufacturer’s web or mobile app.

The EVDR program pays you to allow adjustments to your EV charging based on real-time grid needs, such as when electricity demand is high. On the other hand, an off-peak charging program encourages you to charge your EV during specific, low-cost hours.

Send an email to rieenergy@energyhub.com for more information or to request to end your participation in the program.

If an EV is plugged in during a peak event, the charger will receive a signal to pause charging regardless of if the EV owner is enrolled in the program. We recommend that if a small business enrolls their EV charger, all potential users of the charger should be informed about program parameters.

• Depending on the EV charger manufacturer, notifications may appear before or at the start of the event in your web or mobile application.

• Notifications prior to an event:

  • ChargePoint

    • ChargePoint provides notifications via email, text message and in its app as soon as an event is scheduled. If an event is scheduled more than 24 hours before its start, then the notification will be sent 24 hours ahead.

    • For example: If an event is scheduled for a Wednesday between 5 pm and 9 pm on the previous Tuesday morning, a participating customer will receive a notification on Tuesday at 5 pm regarding the Wednesday 5 pm event.

    • If an event is scheduled for a Wednesday between 5 pm and 9 pm on that Wednesday morning at 10 am, participating customers will receive an alert at 10 am.

    • For more details on setting up ChargePoint notifications, please click here

  • Emporia

    • Currently, Emporia does not provide notifications prior to an event.

  • EvoCharge

    • Customers will receive a push notification from the EvoCharge app when an event is scheduled and when the event begins.

  • Telsa

    • Currently, Tesla does not provide notifications prior to an event.

  • Wallbox

    • Wallbox provides notifications via email before the start of an event. The email will include a link to opt out if needed. You will receive this email to the email address that you used to sign up for the program.

• ChargePoint

  • The event is always present in the in-app experience.

  • When the event is in progress, the charger’s charging status either displays as paused or stopped or at a lower charge rate depending on Rhode Island Energy’s goals for the given demand response event.

  • Customers can tap on the “Utility Event” option in-app and turn participation off to continue charging as usual.

  • The event will disappear from the in-app screen automatically once it ends. When the charger has a set charging schedule and there is an event during the scheduled charging time, the app screen will update to display when the charger will begin recharging on its set schedule based on the event duration.

  • If the user turns the participation toggle off, the charging status updates from the scheduled time it would resume charging to “Not participating.”

• Emporia

  • When an event is occurring or scheduled, customers will see “Your Utility may control this device” or “Your Utility is controlling this device” and the event time in their apps charging screen.

  • Customers can opt out of an event and start charging immediately by making any change to their charger charge rate in the app.

• EvoCharge

  • When an event is occurring or scheduled, customers will see “Current Event” or “Upcoming Event” in their home screen.

  • Customers can opt out of an event and start charging immediately by toggling to “opt out” or by “sliding to start charging”.

• Tesla

  • When an event is occurring, customers will see an update to their charge status in their Tesla app, the charger interface, and the ChargingRewards App.

• Wallbox

  • When an event is occurring, customers will see that their charging may be paused. To confirm that this is due to an event, please check to see if you received an event notification email.

• ChargePoint

  • Customers can opt out of events in the following ways:

    • Via a weblink opt-out option in the email and text message notifications.

    • Via the Home Charger Utility Event section opt-out option in the app.

• Emporia

  • Customers can opt out at any time during the event by making any change to their charger charge rate in the app.

• EvoCharge

  • Customers can opt out of an event and start charging immediately by toggling to “opt out” or by “sliding to start charging”.

• Tesla

  • Customers can opt out of events by:

    • Hitting “Charge Now” in the ChargingRewards app

    • Setting their Tesla app to start charging

    • Unplugging or replugging their charger

• Wallbox

  • You can opt out using the link provided in the event notification email.