Pip Moyer Recreation Center at Truxton Park is the site of the first public charging station owned and operated by BGE under a pilot program approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission. This dual-port, Level 2 site, located in Annapolis, opened on September 13, 2019 and cost $42,453.00 to construct according to data from semi-annual progress reports submitted to the PSC.
Note: This is the first in a series of reports of operational and financial performance data for Maryland utility-owned EV charging stations derived from various public data.
Temperatures at BWI Airport dropped to around 10°F this morning as an Arctic air outbreak continues across Maryland. Cold weather reduces EV range and increases demand for fast charging, making reliable public stations especially important for airport users and rideshare drivers.
The four 150 kW DC fast chargers in the BWI Cell Phone Lot, operated by Baltimore Gas and Electric (BGE) through its EVsmart program on the SWTCH network, are currently listed as “UNDER REPAIR” in the SWTCH app.
These chargers were unveiled on May 24, 2021, as part of Maryland’s push to expand EV infrastructure. BGE later installed additional units in the nearby Rideshare Staging Lot, bringing the total to ten fast-charging ports across the two sites (four in the Cell Phone Lot and six in the Rideshare Staging Lot).
At the Rideshare Staging Lot, the SWTCH app shows that only one CCS connector is operational, with the rest flagged as “UNDER REPAIR” or “UNAVAILABLE.” Across both locations, nine of the ten ports appear out of service at this time. Some units have been unavailable for more than a week, with at least one offline for months based on ongoing user reports.
EV charger under repair at the Howard County Library, Miller Branch
On November 3, 2025 the Howard County Council voted to grant a 3,600 square foot easement on County property to allow BGE to install an EV charging station at the Elkridge Library. The resolution, CR169-2025, had been tabled from the October legislative session. Council Chair Liz Walsh expressed concern about the general lack of parking at the library and the prospect of reserving some of the existing parking spaces for EV charging.
Proposed Amendment to Ensure Reliability
When the tabled resolution came up for a vote on Monday, Walsh moved to add an amendment to impose maintenance and functionality requirements for the BGE-owned charging station as a condition of the easement. The amendment, proposed by Walsh, stated, “BG&E shall maintain uptime standards for each new EV charging station installed at the Elkridge Library, in accordance with Section 7-904 of the Public Utilities Article of the Annotated Code of Maryland.” The cited statute is Maryland’s Electric Vehicle Charging Reliability Act (HB 834) which was signed into law in 2023 and requires 97% uptime in accordance with NEVI for the state’s utility-owned EV charging stations. The amendment further stated that failure to maintain uptime to standards would result in a civil penalty from the County of up to $1,000 for each violation.
Charger Reliability Concerns
Those of you who have EV charging stations in your own districts may notice that they don’t seem to be consistently working, and so this was our effort to ensure that in exchange for a loss of parking available to everyone, we actually had charging stations that worked. -Liz Walsh, Chair
The concerns that lead to the amendment are well-founded. Many BGE-owned EV charging stations on Howard County properties have had a poor track record for reliability. According to BGE’s own data submitted to the Public Service Commission, more than half (31 of the 58) BGE charging plugs located in Howard County failed to achieve 97% average uptime during the 3rd Quarter of 2025. Four BGE fast charger plugs located at the old County Courthouse never worked at all during the period from July 1 to September 30, 2025.
As part of a filing that I submitted to the Maryland Public Service Commission today, I did a virtual charger audit of all the BGE DC fast chargers to check their current status in the SWTCH mobile app. I methodically went down the list of all 88 public DCFC owned and operated by BGE and noted their status in the time period between 6:00 AM and 7:00 AM this morning, October 3, 2025.
54 chargers were AVAILABLE in the app, two were in use and displayed as CHARGING, two were offline and 30 were label as UNDER REPAIR. The bottom line is that 32 out of 88 of the BGE fast charger ports were down. This represents more than a third of the DC fast chargers in the BGE network and highlights the real-world impact on EV drivers.
It is important to note that some of these chargers that are documented as “under repair” are located in underserved communities. For example, both fast chargers at the Liberty Family Resource Center in Randallstown have been down for an extended period of time, with reports of issues dating back to at least January 1, 2025. This site is adjacent to the Randallstown Community Center, where Governor Moore recently gathered with state lawmakers and community leaders to announce financial relief for Maryland ratepayers who are struggling under the burden of high electricity bills. The costs for these BGE chargers are recovered from all BGE residential electricity customers, not just EV drivers.
Education, Energy and the Environment Committee – February 18, 2025
The following is a transcript of my testimony to the Maryland Senate Education, Energy and the Environment Committee on SB 913, “Department of Agriculture – Public Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment – Registration, Regulation, and Oversight.”
This legislation would require the Secretary of Agriculture to establish a program to test the accuracy of public electric vehicle supply equipment, ensure the equipment conforms to certain standards, and to adopt regulations that include requiring an uptime of 97% and establishing civil penalties for non-compliance.
It sounds like a reasonable idea at first. After all, we all want better charger reliability and effective use of public funds. But consider that Maryland already passed a 97% uptime law in 2023 with HB 834, yet it’s been sitting there, largely unenforced by the Public Service Commission while reliability has continued to get worse.
Instead of fixing things, it’s prompted the utilities that own the charging stations to ask for millions more in ratepayer money to replace chargers that aren’t even that old. Now, with SB 913 proposing to add more regulations, there’s a good chance it will raise public EV charging costs without offering much benefit in return. That’s why I’m not convinced that doubling down with the same “uptime” requirements is the right approach at this time.
Maryland already mandates 97% uptime for utility-owned chargers. However, when they fail to meet the standard, the Public Service Commission does not penalize them.
Instead, utilities seek approval to spend millions more to replace equipment that is sometimes less than two years old.
My name is Lanny Hartmann.
I was part of a group of 13 EV drivers that visited nearly every fast charger in the state of Maryland to see how they were working. We went to 304 sites and assessed over 1,000 charging ports. Here’s what we found. Tesla and Rivian, who operate just over half of the ports, were nearly flawless—only two were down. Among the rest of the chargers, 31% were dead, offline, or wouldn’t activate.
Why the discrepancy?
Tesla understands that a positive charging experience is crucial for car sales, so they developed their own Supercharger network, prioritizing reliability.
Now, consider the other half of the chargers we evaluated. Those are operated by various owners and networking providers, many funded through state grants or funded by ratepayers.
The various ownership models, differing business priorities combined with the challenge of maintaining and repairing equipment from third-party vendors all contribute to the performance disparity that we observed.
Maryland already mandates 97% uptime for utility-owned chargers. However, when they fail to meet the standard, the Public Service Commission does not penalize them. Instead, utilities seek approval to spend millions more to replace equipment that is sometimes less than two years old.
Despite the existing mandate and additional spending, the uptime has not significantly improved.
I suggest an amendment to remove the uptime regulations. The many exceptions make them difficult to enforce effectively.
Instead, this bill should focus on providing the Weights and Measures Department with the resources they need.
In 2019, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved a pilot program allowing five utility companies to own and operate public charging stations. By regulation, these utilities must maintain a 97% uptime for their charging stations. This means each charging port must be operational and supply electricity at least 97% of the time annually.
Methodology
In September and October 2024, I conducted a series of virtual “charger audits,” using the ChargeHub, Shell Recharge and ChargePoint apps to check the online status of every charging port in the utility networks. While on-site audits are ideal, weekly virtual audits provide a practical way to track the system’s performance remotely.
Data Charts
The following charts illustrate the data collected from these virtual charger audits.
This virtual charger audit of Maryland’s Tesla Superchargers is intended to complement my ongoing assessments of utility-owned public charging stations. The aim is to compile independent data points to evaluate charger reliability against the state’s 97% uptime target.
On October 4, 2024, I used the Tesla app to check the availability of all 531 Tesla Supercharger stalls across 59 active locations in Maryland. Each Supercharger location in Maryland has between four and 16 stalls.
Overall Port Availability on 10-04-2024: 99.1%
The audit found that 5 out of 531 Supercharger stalls (0.9%) were reported as out of order in the Tesla app, resulting in an overall availability of 99.1%.
Maryland Supercharger Status on 10-04-2024
This level of availability aligns with the consistently high reliability of Tesla Supercharger ports that I documented during the summer of 2023. During those months, we drove to hundreds of Supercharger locations across the United States. Often, we visited more than a dozen sites in a single day without encountering any problems and being able to charge on the first attempt.
Potomac Edison (PE) operates a network of 20 DC fast chargers and 77 Level 2 ports spread across 43 locations in its service area. As a regulated utility, PE is required to maintain 97% uptime for its charging stations.
October 3, 2024 Charger Audit Results
This virtual charger audit of PE’s EV Driven network found mostly favorable results. While all DC fast chargers were online and available, two Level 2 ports were essentially “offline” due to their absence from online directories.
Key Findings:
DC Fast Chargers: 100% availability.
Level 2 Ports: 97% availability (75/77 ports).
Myersville Town Hall: A previously listed dual-port Level 2 station has mysteriously disappeared from online directories.
Issues and Concerns:
Missing Level 2 Ports: The absence of two Level 2 ports from online directories makes it difficult for EV drivers to locate and use them.
Myersville Town Hall Station: The reason for the station’s removal from online directories remains unclear. Parking restrictions and potential conflicts may have played a role.
Recommendations:
Update Online Directories: Potomac Edison should ensure that all charging stations are accurately listed and updated in online directories.
Investigate Myersville Town Hall Station: PE should investigate the reasons for the station’s disappearance and work with local authorities to address any issues including onsite signage.
Improve Communication: PE should provide clear communication to EV drivers about charging station availability and any known issues.
Overall, while Potomac Edison has achieved a high availability rate for its DC fast chargers and Level 2 ports, the uncertainty surrounding the Myersville Town Hall station is an issue that could be addressed to improve the overall user experience.
Detailed Audit Results
On October 3, 2024, I conducted a virtual charger audit of PE’s “EV Driven” network, checking the status of all 97 charging ports using ChargeHub and ChargePoint apps. Notably, both DC fast chargers at the Rocky Gap Resort, previously reporting as “Out of Service” last week, are now online and available.
Myersville Town Hall Station
The dual-port Level 2 station installed at Myersville Town Hall in May 2022 has disappeared from both the ChargePoint app and the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center.
A notable change at this location is the removal of the “no parking except while charging” sign, leaving a “parking for town business only” restriction in place. The town indicated that this decision followed several verbal altercations over parking access to the charging station. I don’t know whether these incidents are related to the station’s removal from the map, but it could be a factor.
Myersville, MD Town Hall – anti-ICEing signs removedRead More …
Charger Audit: Pepco EVsmart Network, October 02, 2024
In 2019, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved a pilot program allowing five of the state’s utility companies to own and operate public charging stations. Potomac Electric Power Company (Pepco) runs one of these networks under the “EVsmart” brand, with 19 DC fast chargers and 233 Level 2 ports spread across 86 locations in its service area. By regulation, Pepco, like other utilities, must maintain 97% uptime for its charging stations. This means that each charging port must operate as intended and supply electricity at least 97% of the time annually, measured in minutes.
On October 2, 2024, I conducted the third in a series of virtual “charger audits” of Pepco’s EVsmart network, checking the online status of all 252 charging ports using the ChargeHub and Shell Recharge apps. While on-site audits provide the most accurate data, conducting them weekly is not feasible. That’s why I’m documenting these online audits to track the status of every port in Maryland’s utility-run charging program remotely.
It’s important to mention that I’ve personally visited all of Pepco’s public charging locations, and I’m familiar with their setups. For some of the stations flagged as offline in this audit, I’ve visited them recently and can confirm that the app status accurately reflected their condition.
79% Availability on October 01, 2024
This audit showed that only 79% of Pepco’s charging ports were online and available or in use, falling well below the 97% uptime target. The chart above reflects a persistent gap, with availability declining from 81% to 79% over the last three weeks. According to uptime standards, any charger offline for more than 11 days a year doesn’t meet the 97% requirement, and many of these ports have already dipped below that threshold.
Olney Manor Rec. Park DCFC Offline
See the video below showing the offline charger at Olney Manor Rec Park Baseball Field (Station ID 43408), which I reported to Shell Recharge on September 28, 2024. The customer service representative said a ticket would be created, but as of today, five days later, the charger remains offline.
Uptime Claims Contradict Performance at Olney Manor Rec Park Baseball Field Charger
Charger Audit: SMECO EV Recharge Network, October 01, 2024
Five years ago, the Maryland Public Service Commission approved a pilot program allowing the state’s largest utilities to own and operate public charging stations. Southern Maryland Electric Cooperative (SMECO) runs the smallest of these utility-operated networks, branded “EV Recharge,” which includes four DC fast chargers and 68 Level 2 ports at 36 locations across their service area. By statute, SMECO, like other utilities, must maintain 97% uptime for each charging station, meaning every charging port must function as designed and dispense electricity at least 97% of the time annually, measured in minutes.
On October 1, 2024, I conducted the third in a series of virtual “charger audits” of SMECO’s EV Recharge network, reviewing the online status of all 72 charging ports using the ChargeHub and Shell Recharge apps. While in-person audits provide the most accurate data, conducting them weekly is impractical. That’s why I’m tracking the status of every port in Maryland’s utility-owned public charging program through these online audits.
It’s worth noting that I’ve personally visited all of SMECO’s public charging sites and am familiar with their locations. For the stations reported as offline in this audit, I visited those specific sites in July and can confirm the app statuses accurately reflected their condition at that time.
88% Availability on October 01, 2024
The latest charger audit of SMECO showed that only 88% of the charging ports were online or in use, falling short of the 97% uptime target. One offline Level 2 unit is located at White Plains Regional Park. When I visited that station in July, the screen was damaged, and the charger was unable to dispense a charge. According to SMECO’s most recent semi-annual report to the PSC, uptime at this location was 57.3%, with vandalism cited as the issue. While vandalism is a valid challenge, there should be limits on how long a station can remain non-operational, regardless of the cause. Extended downtime is unacceptable, especially in light of Maryland’s ambitious EV adoption goals.
See the video below, recorded on July 27, 2024, showing the damaged EVSE screen at White Plains Regional Park.
