Get paid for capacity, not just kilowatt-hours.
Fast Charging Infrastructure crediting lets DC fast-charging sites earn credits on the capacity they have installed, turning chargers with low utilization into a predictable revenue stream. Active in California, Washington, and New Mexico.
Infrastructure crediting, explained
Fast Charging Infrastructure (FCI) crediting began as a provision of California's Low Carbon Fuel Standard, designed to support the build-out of DC fast charging. It started as a public-charging provision and has since been expanded to include private and shared sites. Washington and New Mexico now run infrastructure-crediting provisions of their own.
The difference from standard LCFS crediting is what gets measured. Ordinary credits are earned on the electricity you actually dispense. FCI credits are earned on the capacity you have installed, whether or not it is used. For a site with low utilization, that changes the economics considerably.
California's rules are the most developed, and the mechanics described below are California's. Requirements differ by jurisdiction — we manage participation in all three.
How to earn FCI credits
Five pathways
California credits FCI through five pathways: the four introduced in the latest rulemaking — light/medium-duty and heavy-duty, each covering electricity and hydrogen — plus the original FCI pathway, which remains in place. Each has its own eligibility criteria, credit calculation, and capacity thresholds.
Two credit streams
An approved site earns consumption credits on the kilowatt-hours it dispenses, plus capacity credits based on the power it has installed. Both accrue at once.
How capacity credits are calculated
Nameplate power multiplied by 24 hours, multiplied by a fixed site-type factor: 20% for public and shared sites, 10% for private. A 350 kW public charger carries a capacity baseline of 1,680 kWh per day, claimable even on days it dispenses less than that.
Uptime scales the credit
Capacity credits move with network-reported availability. Sustained outages reduce them; consistently high uptime increases them.
Ten years of credit life
Approved sites earn capacity credits for ten years, which makes FCI revenue something you can underwrite against rather than estimate year to year.
The return-on-capital cap
Once cumulative FCI revenue passes 150% of a site's net capital cost after grants, the site continues earning consumption credits but stops earning capacity credits.
Where the two credit streams trade off
Every charger has a capacity envelope — the energy it could deliver if it ran at its rated site-type factor around the clock. Infrastructure credits fill the gap between that envelope and what the site actually dispenses. As utilization climbs, the gap closes and fuel credits take over. Adjust the inputs to see how the balance shifts.
Combined annual throughput across all chargers, not per charger.
Illustrative only, using California 2026 benchmarks and $80 per credit; actual prices move with the market. This tool explains the concept and is not a quote, forecast, or projection of program revenue.
of installed fast-charging capacity under FuSE management, across public, shared, and private sites.
What qualifies a site
Requirements differ by pathway, and the rules are actively evolving. These are the current thresholds.
Applications are first-come, first-served, and CARB stops accepting them once approved projects reach a set share of statewide deficits. Application deadlines differ between the light/medium-duty and heavy-duty pathways.
The full application lifecycle
Eligibility assessment
We confirm which pathway a site qualifies for before any paperwork is filed.
CAPEX and OPEX documentation
Capital and operating cost records assembled to the standard CARB expects, since the return-on-capital cap makes this arithmetic consequential.
Application submission
Prepared and filed with CARB by our in-house regulatory team.
Approval tracking
Applications are monitored through review, with responses to CARB handled directly by us.
Quarterly reporting
Ongoing submission of dispensed kilowatt-hours and charger availability for every approved site.
Reported under our account
FuSE manages FCI-eligible assets inside its own LCFS Reporting Tool account. You don't need to register as a separate reporting entity, or undergo third-party verification when California's verification requirements take effect in 2026.
Find out what your chargers are worth.
Send us your site list and installed capacity, and we'll tell you which FCI pathway applies and what it's likely to generate.