Question 1

What is a low carbon fuel standard?

Accepted Answer

A low carbon fuel standard (LCFS) or clean fuel program is a market-based regulation that sets a declining limit on the average carbon intensity of transportation fuel sold in a jurisdiction. Fuels above the annual limit generate deficits; fuels below it, including electricity used to charge EVs, generate credits. Regulated fuel suppliers buy credits to cover their deficits, and that demand gives credits a dollar value. If you own or host EV charging equipment, you are on the credit-generating side of that market.

Question 2

Which programs does FuSE work in?

Accepted Answer

FuSE works in California (Low Carbon Fuel Standard, 17 CCR 95480-95503), Oregon (Clean Fuels Program, OAR 340-253), Washington (Clean Fuels Program, WAC 173-424), New Mexico (Clean Transportation Fuel Program, 20.2.92 NMAC), British Columbia (Low Carbon Fuel Standard, BC LCFS General and Technical Regulations), and Canada federally (Clean Fuel Regulations, SOR/2022-140). California's program was adopted in 2009 and became effective for compliance in 2011. New Mexico's program is the newest, taking effect April 1, 2026.

Question 3

How does EV charging earn credits?

Accepted Answer

Two ways, and most sites use both. Throughput credits are earned on the electricity you actually dispense; the quantity scales with the gap between the year's carbon intensity standard for the displaced fuel and the CI of your electricity, adjusted by an Energy Economy Ratio. Example California EERs: 3.4 for light-duty EVs against gasoline, 5.0 for heavy-duty transit buses, 3.3 for light rail. Capacity credits are available in California, Washington, and New Mexico, where an approved fast-charging site can earn credits on capacity it made available but did not use.

Question 4

What is a credit worth?

Accepted Answer

Credit prices are set by the market, not the regulator, and they move. CARB, Ecology, DEQ, and NMED all publish credit price information, including a quarterly average price. We model project revenue using current published data and show price sensitivity rather than a single number. In the capacity-credit programs, the regulator's published quarterly average price, not the price you actually sell at, counts against your cost-recovery cap.

Question 5

How often do credits get issued?

Accepted Answer

Reporting is quarterly in all of the U.S. programs, with an annual compliance report and, increasingly, an annual third-party verification cycle. Credits are issued to your account in the program's tracking system after each quarterly report is accepted. The Canadian programs run on an annual cycle: under the federal Clean Fuel Regulations and the BC Low Carbon Fuel Standard, charging activity is reported once a year and credits are issued after that annual report is accepted, so revenue arrives in a single yearly issuance rather than four quarterly ones.

Question 6

I own the property. My charging network operates the chargers. Who gets the credits?

Accepted Answer

It differs by program and charger type. In California non-residential charging, credits follow the designated reporting entity for the FSE; for infrastructure crediting the applicant must be the FSE owner or an expressly designated party under 95483(c)(2)(B). In Oregon, the equipment owner may generate credits, otherwise the EVSE network service provider, then the electric utility or its aggregator, then the backstop or incremental aggregator. Washington uses a similar layered structure with an explicit backstop aggregator. Under Canada's CFR the split is between a charging-site host (section 101) and a charging-network operator (section 102), determined by the charging stations themselves. Whoever registers first tends to capture the credits, so the host-operator contract should state who may register and who receives revenue.

Question 7

Do I have to register with the regulator myself?

Accepted Answer

For throughput credits you can work through an aggregator, and many hosts do. For infrastructure and capacity crediting in California and Washington, the officer attestation must come from the applicant entity itself, not from a consultant, advisor, or legal counsel. An advisor can prepare and file the application, but a duly authorized officer of the applicant must sign the attestation under penalty of perjury.

Question 8

Can a public agency participate?

Accepted Answer

Yes. Transit agencies, school districts, tribes, municipalities, and their contracted service providers are eligible credit generators. In Oregon and Washington they are also eligible for advance crediting, which issues credits up front against a future payback period, useful for financing bus and infrastructure purchases.

Question 9

What is FCI crediting?

Accepted Answer

FCI stands for DC fast charging infrastructure crediting. It lets an approved fast-charging site earn credits on the difference between the charging capacity the site made available and the energy it actually dispensed. Under a throughput-only framework, an underused fast charger produces very little credit value. Under FCI, an approved site is credited against its installed, networked capacity for a defined crediting period, which supports revenue while utilization ramps up. California, Washington, and New Mexico all have a version of this. Oregon does not; its analog is advance crediting for specific public entities and NEVI-funded projects.

Question 10

How is the FCI credit actually calculated?

Accepted Answer

Conceptually, in every program that has it: credits are approximately (CI benchmark minus EER-adjusted CI of electricity) times (credited capacity times days times uptime, minus kWh dispensed). The programs differ in how credited capacity is derived. In California under the current 2025 pathways, daily FCI charging capacity equals site-type factor times FCI power rating times 24 hours. The FCI power rating is declared in your application and may be set below nameplate but never above it. It is capped at 350 kW for light- and medium-duty (LMD-FCI, section 95486.3(b)) and 2,000 kW for heavy-duty (HD-FCI, section 95486.4(b)). The site-type factor is 20% for a public LMD site or a shared HD site, and 10% for a private site. Quarterly credits are calculated on that daily capacity times days in the quarter times the uptime multiplier, minus the kWh actually dispensed. The dispensed kWh still earn ordinary throughput credits separately. Washington uses a comparable structure under WAC 173-424-560, with LMD-FCI capacity derived from nameplate power rating or 350 kW, whichever is less, and HD-FCI capacity derived from a site-type factor applied to the lesser of nameplate or 2,000 kW. New Mexico derives capacity as nameplate capacity times the fraction of the day the unit is operational, times days in the quarter, less actual throughput (20.2.92.302 NMAC).

Question 11

Wait — so my credits go down as utilization goes up?

Accepted Answer

Your infrastructure credits go down as utilization rises, but your throughput credits go up. The design intent is to make revenue roughly indifferent to utilization in the early years and then hand the site off to throughput economics as it matures. Two implications for modeling: first, FCI credits fall toward zero as quarterly throughput approaches credited capacity. Second, because FCI credits are calculated using the program's default grid carbon intensity, a low-CI or book-and-claim electricity supply improves your throughput credits only and does not increase your FCI credits. California's FCI calculation uses the state average grid CI in Table 7-1; Washington's LMD-FCI calculation uses the annual utility-specific CI in its Table 10.

Question 12

What counts as public, shared, and private?

Accepted Answer

California defines these precisely, and the definitions drive your 20% vs. 10% factor. A public LMD-FCI charging site is available to the public at least 12 continuous hours each day, including the 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. window, with no reservations permitted during public hours. Access cards, PIN gating, and required training all disqualify a site from being public. Fee-charging public sites need a point-of-sale terminal that accepts all major credit and debit cards. A shared HD-FCI charging site is accessible to third-party heavy-duty fleets not owned by the site owner for at least 12 hours a day, or open to the public for 12 continuous hours including 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. At a fleet-owned shared site, FSEs cannot be reserved for a single fleet more than 12 hours a day; third-party-owned multi-fleet sites have no reservation-length limit. A private site is a depot, workplace, or restricted-access site, eligible at the 10% factor. Washington uses a different test for shared heavy-duty sites: a declaration that the site will be continually available to at least two third-party heavy-duty fleets under separate ownership and control. Washington's rule contains no primarily used or 12-hour-window standard equivalent to California's.

Question 13

How long does the crediting period last?

Accepted Answer

California LMD-FCI and HD-FCI both run 10 years, starting the quarter of Executive Officer approval. Washington LMD-FCI runs 5 years and HD-FCI runs 10 years, each starting the quarter Ecology approves. New Mexico FSE credits run 10 years per pathway approval. The clock starts at approval, not at energization. California allows up to 24 months to demonstrate operability, Washington allows 12 months, and New Mexico requires operation within 18 months. Every quarter of construction delay after approval consumes a quarter of your crediting window, so sequencing the application against your construction schedule is one of the highest-value decisions in the process.

Question 14

Do I still have to dispense electricity?

Accepted Answer

Yes. In California the regulation is explicit: the FSE must dispense electricity in a given quarter to generate FCI credits for that quarter. Paid for capacity, not utilization is a useful shorthand, but a site with zero throughput in a quarter is not a crediting site that quarter.

Question 15

What are the basic eligibility screens?

Accepted Answer

Common to the U.S. capacity pathways: a minimum 50 kW nameplate power rating per unit; networked equipment capable of monitoring and reporting its own availability; passed final inspection, permitted to operate, and fully commissioned; not permitted to operate before a program-specific vintage date (California LMD-FCI January 1, 2022; Washington January 1, 2023); not built as required environmental mitigation (CEQA in California, SEPA in Washington); not funded by an enforcement settlement; and not previously approved for FCI crediting. Application windows also close: Washington LMD-FCI applications must be received by December 31, 2029, and Washington HD-FCI and California LMD-FCI by December 31, 2030. California's legacy FCI pathway under section 95486.2 closed to new applications on July 1, 2025.

Question 16

My grid interconnection is constrained. Can I still register full charger output?

Accepted Answer

Often, yes, and this is one of the more useful features of the 2025 California amendments. The site power adequacy test requires that total site power available to the chargers be at least the sum of the FCI power ratings of certified units, and that total explicitly includes battery energy storage and on-site production, not just grid capacity. A battery-integrated DC fast charger can therefore register at its full output-side rating even where the service drop alone could not support it. Two caveats: batteries help you satisfy the power adequacy test but do not expand your site cap headroom, and site caps (2,500 kW total FCI power rating for LMD-FCI and 40 MW for HD-FCI in California; 1,500 kW nameplate for LMD-FCI in Washington, extendable to 3,600 kW on justification, and 10 MW for HD-FCI) are measured on the dispensing side. Battery storage is included in the initial capital expenditure base for California's cost-recovery cap, while on-site generation, land, working capital, and off-site facilities are not. Washington's rule does not expressly address whether battery discharge counts toward its effective simultaneous power rating test, which we treat as an open question to confirm with Ecology.

Question 17

Can I declare a lower FCI power rating on purpose?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and sometimes you should. Because the declared FCI power rating can sit below nameplate, it functions as a design lever for fitting a large site under the total site cap and for satisfying the power adequacy test. It is a trade-off against credited capacity, so it should be modeled, not guessed.

Question 18

What is the CAPEX cap?

Accepted Answer

Capacity crediting is designed as cost recovery, not an open-ended subsidy. Once the cumulative value of your infrastructure credits reaches a multiple of your net capital expenditure, infrastructure crediting stops, even if years remain on your crediting period. California (LMD-FCI and HD-FCI) uses a 1.5x cap on initial CAPEX including battery storage, excluding on-site generation, land, working capital, and off-site facilities, minus grants and other external funding received before the site is approved and operational. Washington sites approved after Nov 20, 2025, and all HD-FCI, use 1.5x initial CAPEX excluding on-site generation, minus external funding toward capital, operations, and maintenance. Washington LMD-FCI approved before Nov 20, 2025 uses 1.0x total capital expenditure minus grants and other funding. New Mexico uses 1.5x, or 2.0x in designated enhanced ZIP codes, on reported CAPEX net of grants. Two divergences catch people out. Grant timing: California fixes the grant offset at the point the site is approved and operational, while Washington nets out external funding on a rolling quarterly basis and includes O&M funding. Discounting: Washington and New Mexico track cumulative credit value in constant dollars for the approval year using a 10% annual discount rate, while California's FCI provisions include no equivalent discount factor.

Question 19

Can I extend my crediting window by reporting a low credit price?

Accepted Answer

No. The cap valuation is hardwired to the regulator's own published quarterly average credit price, not to your transaction or forward price. California, Washington, and New Mexico all work this way, so whatever price you actually sell at is irrelevant to the cap arithmetic because the regulator substitutes its index. Reporting an off-market price to influence the cap would also create exposure under the perjury attestation and credit invalidation provisions. The constraint is already self-relaxing: in a low-price environment a fixed dollar cap translates into more credits, naturally lengthening the effective crediting window toward the full 10-year limit. Prepaid forwards remain a legitimate offtake and project financing tool for de-risking revenue and improving project economics, but they do not buy regulatory headroom.

Question 20

Is there a limit on how many projects the program will approve?

Accepted Answer

Yes, and it is the risk most often missed in early-stage models. California: if estimated potential FCI credits from all approved FSEs exceed 2.5% of the prior quarter's deficits, CARB stops approving new pathways and stops accepting applications until the figure falls back below the threshold, and a separate 0.5% ceiling applies per applicant, with applications evaluated first come, first served. Washington: the same 0.5% per-applicant throttle applies, run separately for LMD-FCI and HD-FCI, plus a 2.5% test tied to failure to demonstrate operability. New Mexico is the most rationed of the three: total FSE credits each quarter are capped at 5% of prior-quarter deficits, run separately for light/medium-duty, medium/heavy-duty, and aircraft, with 0.5% per pathway and 1% per holder sub-caps, a first-come-first-served queue that prioritizes non-expansion applications, and only one pathway per ZIP code per duty-and-fuel-type funded each quarter. Queue position is a real asset in these programs, so filing early is not a formality.

Question 21

What does Oregon offer instead of FCI?

Accepted Answer

Two things. Throughput credits, on the same basis as the other programs, with a layered credit-generator hierarchy running from equipment owner to EVSE network service provider to utility or its designated aggregator to backstop or incremental aggregator. And advance crediting under OAR 340-253-1100, available to public transit agencies, political subdivisions of the state, tribes, school districts, companies under contract to a political subdivision or school district with endorsement, and owners of charging equipment funded through the federal NEVI formula program. Eligible investments include DC fast charging equipment and hydrogen fueling equipment meeting a CI threshold, plus zero-emission medium- and heavy-duty vehicles. Credits are issued against a milestone tied to placing equipment in useful service, with a payback period one year longer than the number of years of credits advanced. Washington runs a comparable advance crediting program under WAC 173-424-550, with a broader list of eligible investments including state ferry electrification and public transit infrastructure.

Question 22

Who creates credits for EV charging under the federal CFR?

Accepted Answer

The CFR does not use the word charger. It defines a charging station as a device used in Canada to charge an EV's onboard battery that can communicate with a server to report the quantity and time of electricity supplied. Two crediting provisions matter. Section 102, charging-network operator (CNO), applies to public charging stations listed on the operator's website or mobile app, and certain private-dwelling stations. Section 101, charging-site host, applies to charging stations other than those described in section 102(1); a charging-site host owns or leases the station and holds the legal right to have it installed. A single set of charging stations falls under one provision or the other. It cannot be both, and calling a company a CNO does not by itself make its credits section 102 credits.

Question 23

Is credit revenue subject to reinvestment requirements?

Accepted Answer

Only for section 102 (CNO) credits. The revenue reinvestment obligation in section 103 binds a CNO referred to in subsection 102(1) and any person with whom the CNO has entered into a section 21 agreement. Section 103 never references section 101, so genuine charging-site-host credit revenue carries no reinvestment obligation. If reinvestment does apply and the revenue is not reinvested by the deadline, the second anniversary of the end of the compliance period in which the credit was transferred, the Minister may cancel an equivalent number of credits.

Question 24

How does aggregation work under the CFR?

Accepted Answer

Through a section 21 agreement, which runs between a registered creator (the party holding the CATS account and creating the credits) and the underlying eligible person. Eligible counterparties are the persons named in section 21(1)(a), including the section 101 site host and the section 102 CNO themselves. Three consequences worth understanding before you sign anything. First, the counterparty must be the eligible person: if the credits are section 101 site-host credits, the agreement runs with the site host, and an intermediary that is neither the site host nor the CNO for those stations sits outside the regulatory chain. Second, reporting obligations follow the registered creator: under section 26(3), the registered creator must notify the Minister with Schedule 3 information about the counterparty's activities, and carries the credit-creation reporting, authorized-agent sign-off, and credit-adjustment reporting. Third, aggregation does not relocate the section 103 obligation: the reinvestment duty tracks the credit-creation provision, not the aggregation layer, and section 103 can reach the section 21 counterparty. Where reinvestment applies, the contract needs to allocate that obligation and the cancellation risk explicitly.

Question 25

I have a strata or mixed-use building with resident, communal, and public charging in it. How does that work?

Accepted Answer

British Columbia's LCFS is built around FSE-level reporting and allocation agreements, and it has no residential carve-out analogous to California's utility-based mechanism. In a mixed building, the practical work is mapping each category of charging to an FSE, determining who holds the credit-creation right for each, and papering the allocation agreements so that dedicated resident charging, communal resident charging, and commercial retail charging are each accounted for once and only once. It is tractable, but it is a design exercise rather than a form-filling exercise, so talk to us before the equipment is specified.

Question 26

What is third-party verification, and does it apply to me?

Accepted Answer

Third-party verification (3PV) is an independent accredited review of your reported data. For EV reporting entities it is essentially an audit of the chain from meter to fuel transaction report. It is already standard for fuel producers, and it is now arriving for electricity across the West Coast programs, with New Mexico and British Columbia running their own versions. New Mexico CTFS: verification arrives with the program's first annual reports following the 2026 start, with threshold-based deferral modelled on the West Coast programs, a records review, and charging-site visits at verifier discretion. Canada CFR: in effect since 2023 for 2022 data, applies to the annual compliance report with scope depending on your role and volumes, and is carried out as a records review by an accredited verification body with site visits at verifier discretion. British Columbia does not require formal third-party verification; Ministry staff conduct a thorough validation of all annual reports, which can result in follow-ups with reporting entities as they work through the process and requests for additional supporting information. Oregon CFP: first cycle in 2026 for 2025 data, exempt at 6,000 credits per year or fewer, with a visit to where the aggregator's records are stored and charging-site visits at verifier discretion. California LCFS: verification statement due August 31, 2027 for CY2026 reports, deferral up to 2 years at 10,000 credits per year or fewer, no site visit required for EV reporting, and an August 31 annual deadline for the prior year. Washington CFP: first cycle in 2028 for 2026 and 2027 data, not subject under 3,000 credits, deferral up to 4 years at 10,000 or fewer, a less intensive desktop review available, and a September 15 annual deadline for the prior year. In California, an EV-only reporting entity that clears full verification becomes eligible for less intensive verification for the next two annual submissions, then cycles back to full verification. Deferral is not exemption: a deferred entity still verifies, just later, and usually for multiple years at once. Plan the recordkeeping now rather than reconstructing it in year three.

Question 27

What do I need to have in place?

Accepted Answer

A written monitoring plan, meter documentation and calibration records, network uptime and availability data, the underlying charging session data supporting each quarterly report, and, for infrastructure crediting, your capital expenditure and grant records. If you are generating capacity credits, your cost and revenue reporting is part of the compliance record, not just an accounting exercise.

Question 28

Does a charger have to be permanently connected to the grid?

Accepted Answer

Not necessarily. Washington's definition of non-residential EV charging FSE is functional rather than electrical: equipment capable of measuring the electricity dispensed for EV charging. A mobile or truck-mounted battery energy storage system with an integrated metered dispenser meets that definition on its face. The complications are practical. Registration presumes a fixed location: FSE registration asks for a facility name, street address, and latitude and longitude, and neither Washington nor most other programs have an express mobile-charger category. The workable approach is registering the dispensing unit by OEM serial number with a home or domicile location. California has processed mobile chargers under the same serial-number-based framework, which is useful precedent, but we recommend confirming the treatment with the agency before procurement closes. Only the dispensed side is creditable: grid electricity used to charge the battery at the depot is not vehicle charging, the battery is cargo, and only metered kWh dispensed into a vehicle is transportation fuel, so round-trip battery losses are not creditable. Track vehicle type per event: EERs differ sharply, 5.0 for heavy-duty transit buses versus 3.4 for light-duty vehicles against the gasoline standard, so mixed-use mobile charging needs per-event vehicle classification.

Question 29

Can electric ferries and marine vessels earn credits?

Accepted Answer

In California, yes, though not through the shore-power pathway for ocean-going vessels. Ferries generally qualify as commercial harbor craft, which are expressly carved out of the OGV exemption, making the electricity used to propel them a regulated transportation fuel. The mechanism is the other electric transportation applications opt-in pathway, requiring application to the Executive Officer. The economics are the catch: California's EER table contains no ferry-specific value, so the default EER of 1.0 applies unless you obtain a certified EER-adjusted carbon intensity. That is a material constraint worth resolving before you model revenue. Other programs are more accommodating. Washington has a defined ferry vessel category with a dedicated pathway and an Electricity/OGV EER of 2.6. British Columbia applies a Marine EER of 2.5 and a Shore Power EER of 2.8. Washington's advance crediting program also expressly contemplates state ferry fleet electrification. Canada CFR allows for crediting electric marine vessels using an EER of 3.1

Question 30

What about forklifts, transport refrigeration units, cargo handling equipment, and ground support equipment?

Accepted Answer

All are creditable equipment categories across the U.S. programs, with the credit generally accruing to the owner of the equipment or the charging equipment, subject to data-quality requirements. These are frequently overlooked at industrial sites, ports, and airports that are already generating credits on their vehicle charging.

Question 31

Can I use RECs or a renewable power purchase agreement to increase my credits?

Accepted Answer

You can lower the carbon intensity of your reported electricity and earn incremental credits on top of base throughput credits, but the rules on which instruments qualify are program-specific and unforgiving on the details. Geographic matching: New Mexico requires matching within the eGRID subregion (AZNM), while Oregon and Washington use the broader WECC region. Tracking systems: New Mexico requires use of WREGIS for the zero-CI transportation fuel claim and does not impose a Green-e certification requirement; other programs differ. Vintage and commercial operation date screens are present in some programs and absent in New Mexico. Retirement timing is generally tied to the quarterly reporting cycle, with retirement records submitted alongside the report. And to repeat the point from the capacity crediting section, low-CI electricity improves your throughput credits, not your capacity credits.

Question 32

What does FuSE actually do?

Accepted Answer

We handle the regulatory and commercial machinery of clean fuel credit generation so that your team does not have to build that capability in-house: eligibility and structuring review before you commit to a site design, including which pathway to pursue, what to declare as your FCI power rating, and how the application timing interacts with your construction schedule; registration and application preparation in each program's system, including infrastructure pathway applications and the supporting cost, power, and access documentation; quarterly reporting and recordkeeping across every jurisdiction where you operate; verification readiness, including monitoring plans, data trails, and support through the verification cycle; credit monetization, including spot sales and structured offtake; and cross-jurisdictional advisory for portfolios that span California, Oregon, Washington, New Mexico, British Columbia, and federal Canada.

Question 33

How is FuSE compensated?

Accepted Answer

There is no upfront cost. FuSE is compensated out of credit monetization proceeds, so you pay only when revenue is generated. The structure depends on the program, your volume, and which services you need. Get in touch for specifics on your project.

Question 34

Which programs can you support at once?

Accepted Answer

All of the above, and simultaneously. Multi-jurisdiction portfolios are the norm rather than the exception in our work, and the cross-program differences, including grant netting, discount rates, access definitions, crediting-period lengths, and verification timing, are precisely where value gets lost when each project is handled locally.

Question 35

When should I contact you?

Accepted Answer

Before your equipment is specified and before you file anything. The decisions with the largest revenue consequences, including pathway selection, declared power rating, site access design, application timing against your construction schedule, and queue position, are all made before the first kWh is dispensed. Once a site is built and approved, most of them are fixed.

Provision	California	Washington	Oregon	New Mexico
Capacity crediting for chargers	Yes — LMD-FCI and HD-FCI	Yes — LMD-FCI and HD-FCI	No	Yes — FSE credits
Capacity basis	Site-type factor × FCI power rating × 24	Nameplate (LMD) or factor × nameplate (HD)	n/a	Nameplate × uptime
Crediting period	10 yrs / 10 yrs	5 yrs / 10 yrs	n/a	10 yrs
Cost-recovery cap	1.5× initial CAPEX	1.0× or 1.5×, by approval date	n/a	1.5× (2.0× enhanced ZIPs)
Constant-dollar discount	None	10%/yr	n/a	10%/yr
Time to operability	24 months	12 months	n/a	18 months
Program-wide throttle	2.5% of deficits	0.5% per applicant	n/a	5% of deficits, with sub-caps
Advance crediting for public entities	No	Yes	Yes	No
Residential charging	Utility/EDU-based	Utility, backstop aggregator, or OEM	Utility, backstop or incremental aggregator	Department-calculated estimates

Clean fuel program FAQ

Program basics

Who earns the credits

Capacity crediting for fast chargers

The FCI cost-recovery cap and other FCI limits

Program-by-program comparison

Canada: federal CFR and British Columbia

What you can do with credit revenue

Third-party verification

Less common situations

Working with FuSE

Disclaimer

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