Pepco - Plug-In Sites

The Waffle House Rule: What EV Charging Prices Should Look Like

April 7, 2026 Lanny

Roadtrip Lessons

If you want to learn the truth in the world, you’ve got to get out in it. We’ve just returned from a 4,200 mile EV roadtrip through the south eastern United States where we stopped at 130 charging stations.

There is no greater touchstone for ground truth in America than a visit to a Waffle House. FEMA uses the number of their restaurants that are able to remain open – “The Waffle House Index” – as an unofficial metric to assess disaster severity.

Gazing at the Waffle House menu for a late dinner while our car charged nearby, I noticed these words at the top, “prices include sales tax.” If Waffle House can do it, and gas stations do it, why can’t EV charging providers state their prices inclusive of all taxes? This inspired me to post a proposal for “the Waffle House Rule” on EV charging prices. Include the taxes in the advertised per kWh price.

The previous day, I had stopped at a fast charger that is owned and operated by Florida Power and Light. The Florida Public Service Commission had recently granted the utility a price increase from $0.32/kWh to $0.45/kWh at FPL owned fast chargers. When I charged at an FPL charger last week, my total bill for 10 kWh was not $4.50, but $5.80 after taxes and fees.

MARC Train Station Charging Station Potomac Edison – 2025 Report

March 12, 2026March 12, 2026 Lanny

Utilization, Uptime & Profit/Loss

The public charging station at the MARC Train Station in Frederick, Maryland is owned and operated by Potomac Edison under a pilot program approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission. There is one dual-port Level 2 unit on the ChargePoint network located at the edge of the train station parking lot.

Note: This is part of a series of reports of operational and financial performance data for Maryland utility-owned EV charging stations derived from public data.

Andrew Hanko Building, Pepco Charging Site – 2025 Report

March 11, 2026March 12, 2026 Lanny

Utilization, Uptime & Profit/Loss

The public charging station at the Andrew Hanko Building in New Carrollton, Maryland is owned and operated by Pepco under a pilot program approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission. There are two dual-port Level 2 units located at the edge of a small parking lot.

Note: This is part of a series of reports of operational and financial performance data for Maryland utility-owned EV charging stations derived from public data.

BY Morrison Park Pepco Charging Site – 2025 Report

February 24, 2026February 24, 2026 Lanny

Utilization, Uptime, Complaints, Repairs & Profit/Loss

BY Morrison Park EV charging station in Takoma Park, MD

The first public charging station owned and operated by Pepco under a pilot program approved by the Maryland Public Service Commission is located at BY Morrison Park in Takoma Park, Maryland. This charging site has two Level 2 units at the edge of a small parking lot and opened on September 13, 2019. Site construction cost $45,278.00 in 2019 but the original chargers were replaced in 2025 at an unknown cost.

Note: This is the second in a series of reports of operational and financial performance data for Maryland utility-owned EV charging stations derived from various public data.

Maryland Utility-Owned EV Chargers: An Assessment of Online Status in September and October 2024

October 23, 2024October 24, 2024 Lanny

Virtual Charger Audit

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.

65% Avg – Delmarva Charging Ports Online, Sep. 13 – Oct. 20, 2024

L2 Avg: 65% | DCFC Avg: 63%

90% Avg – BGE Charging Ports Online, Sep. 19 – Oct. 21, 2024

L2 Avg: 92% | DCFC Avg: 77%

Acredale Community Park – Pepco EVsmart Charging Station

October 10, 2024October 10, 2024 Lanny

Airedale Community Park Pepco EVsmart EV charging

Pepco manages an EV charging station at Acredale Community Park in College Park, Maryland, with four Level 2 chargers. As of October 10, 2024, all four have been offline for nearly six months. EV drivers have been unable to use this site—which opened two years ago—due to what Pepco describes in their semi-annual report to the Public Service Commission as “communication issues.” Filed on August 1, 2024, the report notes that the “location requires troubleshooting.” This prolonged outage, which appears to have an easy fix, has left EV drivers frustrated and ratepayers—who funded these stations—feeling deprived.

Here are the details of this Featured PlugInSite.

Construction Cost

$91,954 Total site construction cost per the Maryland PSC PC44 EV Pilot Program

Category	Amount
Labor	$54,091
Materials	$24,349
Network	$5,830
Utility	$7,684
Total	$91,954

Revenue vs Electricity Cost

-$438.87 Deficit (Since Inception)

Metric	Amount
Energy Used	3,449 kWh
Revenue	$564.82
Electricity Cost	$1,003.69
Deficit	-$438.87

Note: This calculation only reflects the difference between electricity costs and revenue as of June 30, 2024. Other operating expenses, such as maintenance and repair costs, are not included.

Electricity Throughput Trend

Acredale Community Park EV charging station electricity throughput usage graph June 2024 — Acredale Community Park EV charging monthly usage trend in kWh

Site Information

Location
Address: 4300 Metzerott Road, College Park, MD 20740
County: Prince George’s
Facility Type: Park
Coordinates: 38.9995404, -76.9357454
Directions: At SE corner of parking lot.
Map Link: OpenStreetMap

Potomac Edison Charger Check – October 3, 2024

October 4, 2024October 4, 2024 Lanny

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 Signs — Myersville, MD Town Hall – anti-ICEing signs removed

Pepco EVsmart Charger Audit – October 2, 2024

October 3, 2024October 3, 2024 Lanny

Pepco: Charger Audit Results

L2: 79% | DCFC: 79% | Goal: 97% Uptime

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

Pepco Doubles Down on Outdated Charging Equipment in Rockville

September 29, 2024September 29, 2024 Lanny

Fallsgrove Pepco DCFC Efacec — Thomas Farm Community Center 2nd DCFC estimated to be in service by 9/30/2024.

Pepco is adding a second fast charger to their existing electric vehicle charging site at Thomas Farm Community Center in Rockville, MD. Ordinarily, this would be welcome news for EV drivers, but the choice of an Efacec QC45 charger raises concerns. This model is widely considered outdated, slow, and prone to failure.

Originally opened in April 2020 as part of the Maryland Public Service Commission’s EV charging pilot program, the site is now getting a second charger. In August, the PSC ordered utilities to stop installing new public charging stations under the pilot but allowed sites already under development to be completed. This is one of five Pepco locations still under construction and exempt from the stop order.

Aging Efacec QC45 Model Fast Charger Raises Concerns

Pepco’s decision to install a charger model designed over a decade ago feels out of sync with the rapid evolution of EV charging technology. Newer models offer much faster charging speeds, providing greater convenience for drivers. So why is Pepco opting for outdated equipment when more advanced and reliable options are readily available?

The existing DC fast charger at the site, installed in April 2020, is also an Efacec QC45—a model that was already outdated at the time. In fact, similar QC50 units were deployed at Royal Farms locations across Maryland as far back as 2015. It’s puzzling why Pepco persists with older technology, especially as the industry advances toward higher-performance solutions at such a rapid pace.

Public Service Commission Concerns in 2022

Issues with the Efacec chargers were brought to light more than two years ago during a PSC review of the utilities’ semi-annual reports on the EV pilot program. At the time, BGE informed PSC Chair Jason Stanek that they had observed more problems with Efacec QC45 units than with other brands. In fact, BGE had canceled an order for these chargers about a year earlier, opting for a more reliable brand instead.

Chair: Is it fair to say that the Efacec chargers, I believe that these are Portuguese made, have a higher malfunction rate than other chargers?

BGE: That is what we’re seeing, unfortunately.

Chair: This is what, the QC 45 model?

BGE: Correct.
Maryland PSC Administrative Meeting – 03/16/2022 at 35:00

Pepco EVsmart Charger Audit – September 25, 2024

September 26, 2024September 26, 2024 Lanny

Pepco Port Availability (09-25-2024)

L2: 80%
DCFC: 84%
Goal: 97% Uptime

Pepco EVsmart Network

Maryland EV drivers are facing a harsh reality: a substantial number of utility-owned public charging stations are frequently offline. In Pepco’s service area, many EVsmart-branded stations have been out of service for weeks, with some entire sites down for months. Of 252 charging ports across 84 Pepco locations, 50 were offline as of September 25, 2024—leaving only 80% operational, well below the 97% uptime target. This unreliable infrastructure threatens the state’s ambitious EV adoption goals.

Overall Port Availability on 09-25-2024: 80%

On September 25, 2024, I conducted a virtual “charger audit” of Pepco’s EVsmart network and found that eleven locations had no charging ports online at all. Many of the offline ports had not successfully charged a vehicle in over two weeks, indicating prolonged outages. The lack of redundancy at these sites further compounds the challenges faced by EV drivers, who are left with even fewer reliable charging options.

Charger Downtime Erodes Trust

This reliability shortfall is alarming as Maryland pushes toward ambitious electric vehicle adoption targets. With one in five charging ports offline, public confidence in the public EV charging infrastructure—a critical element for the widespread transition to EVs—risks being severely undermined.

One site, located at Acredale Community Park in College Park, has been down since June.