Change Comes After New Weights and Measures Rules Take Effect
In an earlier post, I examined whether Tesla’s congestion fee structure complied with new Maryland legislation signed by the Governor on April 28, 2026.
The legislation, which took effect July 1, 2026, added method-of-sale rules for EVSE to Maryland’s Weights and Measures statute.
The statute says that electricity sold at charging stations shall be measured and sold in units of kilowatt-hours and that during a charging session, a customer may be charged only for the kilowatt-hours of electricity dispensed during the charging session.
It also says that in addition to the price charged for the sale of electricity, the EVSE operator may charge a fee for services related to the retail sale of electricity as a vehicle fuel. That fee may be a fixed fee or assessed based on length of time, and may be applied only at the conclusion of a charging session and shall be itemized on the customer’s receipt.
According to Tesla’s website, congestion fees apply when a Supercharger site is busy and a vehicle’s charge level is above 80% or charging is complete. Unlike traditional idling fees, which begin once charging stops, Tesla’s congestion fees have applied while the vehicle is still drawing power. Accruing time-based fees of any kind before the charging stops did not appear to comply with the new law.
I anticipated that one of three things would occur after the law took effect: Tesla would restructure the congestion fee at Maryland Supercharger locations to trigger only after the session ends, Tesla would stop assessing congestion fees at Maryland sites altogether, or Tesla would wait to see whether Maryland Weights and Measures treated it as an enforceable violation.
There is now evidence of a change to Tesla’s congestion fees that appears to apply only to Maryland, suggesting a direct response to the new law.
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