Vehicle Charging Stations – New Law

The Governor has signed Senate Bill 209, a law that will void governing document provisions that effectively prohibit or limit the installation of electric vehicle charging stations in homeowner associations.

SB 209 was extremely popular in the California Legislature, and moved quickly towards passage. ECHO worked on several amendments to remove hazardous provisions affecting association finances and governance. With the author’s acceptance of those amendments, ECHO moved to a support position.

Unfortunately, final amendments were not included in the signed bill. While the language does contain provisions that place any expense associated with the installation on the individual homeowner, other language remains that could negatively impact associations.

In his signing message, the Governor writes that the bill “contains language that could permit individual homeowners to unreasonably use or occupy common areas. The author has assured me that she will pursue legislation that clearly protects the right of the common interest developments to establish reasonable rules for any use of common areas for charging stations.”

To read the full text of the new bill, visit California’s legislative information page.

ECHO will monitor closely the impact of this bill and any forthcoming cleanup legislation. Read the Governor’s full signing message (PDF) for more information about his reasoning.