Short answer: a utility make-ready program is a utility offer to pay for, or build and own, the electrical work between the grid and your charger stub-outs: service upgrade, transformer, panel, conduit, and wiring. You typically buy and run the chargers. Not every utility has one; PPL Electric in Pennsylvania, for example, does not currently offer one, and several California programs have closed to new applications. Check your utility's EV program page before you design the site.
Utility make-ready programs are among the most valuable funding tools for commercial EV charging, and among the most misunderstood. They can take the single biggest cost off your books, but they come with timelines and ownership trade-offs that catch project teams off guard. Here is a clear explanation of how they work, what they cover, and when they are the right choice.
The 30C credit is closed; plan make-ready on its own timeline
⚠️ Note: The federal 30C charger tax credit ended June 30, 2026. No federal EV charger tax credit is available for equipment placed in service after that date; budget the real out-of-pocket cost and look to state and utility programs.
Utility make-ready is usually the longest dependency in a charging project. Make-ready design and construction commonly run several months to a year or more, and the utility's schedule, not yours, controls it. The 30C credit is no longer a factor in project timing, but that long dependency still deserves an early start: begin the utility application as soon as possible so make-ready does not become the bottleneck for the rest of your build.
What "make-ready" means
Make-ready infrastructure is the electrical system that carries power from the grid to the point where a charger can connect: the service upgrade, the transformer (if needed), the sub-panel, the conduit, the wiring, and the connection stub-out. Everything up to the charger itself.
In many commercial projects, make-ready infrastructure is the biggest single expense and the piece most often underestimated. Its share of total project cost varies widely with the site's existing electrical capacity and how far power has to travel to the parking spaces.
Utility make-ready programs fund this infrastructure. Depending on the program, the utility either installs and owns the electrical infrastructure or covers its cost. You install and own the charger hardware.
Why utilities offer these programs
Utilities benefit from EV adoption because more EVs mean more electricity sold, and load growth is good for a regulated utility's business. Beyond that, legislatures and utility regulators in several states have directed utilities to support EV infrastructure deployment and approved the programs and budgets to do it. By owning the make-ready infrastructure, utilities also gain visibility into new load and can plan grid capacity proactively.
How make-ready programs typically work
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Application. You apply to the utility's EV program with project details: location, number and type of chargers, and planned timeline.
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Site assessment. The utility or its contractor visits to evaluate existing infrastructure and scope the make-ready work.
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Approval. The utility approves the project and commits to funding the make-ready scope.
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Design and construction. In a utility-owned program, the utility's contractor designs and installs the infrastructure, commonly within several months to a year or more of approval. In a rebate-style program, your contractor builds it to the program's specifications and the utility pays you back after it checks the work. Either way, this is usually the longest part of the timeline.
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Your installation. Once make-ready is complete, you install the charger hardware and, after inspection and energization, commission it.
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Ongoing relationship. Where the utility owns the make-ready infrastructure, later upgrades or expansions to that infrastructure mean going back through the utility program.
What make-ready programs cover and do not cover
Typically covered:
- Service upgrade, if needed
- Transformer upgrade, if needed
- Conduit installation
- Wiring to stub-out locations
- Sub-panel installation
Typically not covered:
- Charger hardware
- Charger installation (connecting hardware to the stub-outs)
- Network software subscriptions
- Civil work not directly related to electrical infrastructure (repaving, landscaping restoration)
- Your electrician's labor for the final charger connection
A note on how this interacted with the 30C credit
While the federal 30C credit was available (it ended June 30, 2026), an important and easily missed tax interaction applied. The 30C credit was calculated on costs you actually incurred. When the utility pays for and owns the make-ready infrastructure, that scope is not your cost, so it was not part of your 30C basis. You could claim 30C only on the portion you paid for, typically the charger hardware and the final connection labor. The same principle carries over to the grants and rebates you can still stack: most programs pay only toward eligible cost you actually bear, and many bar two programs from paying for the same cost. The worked example below is still a useful template even though the federal credit itself is gone.
A worked example (illustrative):
- Total project scope: $200,000
- Utility make-ready covers the infrastructure: $80,000 (utility pays, you pay $0 for it)
- Your remaining out-of-pocket cost: $120,000
- 30C credit at 30% (site in an eligible census tract, with prevailing wage and apprenticeship compliance), on your $120,000, not the full $200,000: $36,000
- Your net cost: $84,000
Calculating 30C on the full $200,000 would have overstated the credit by $24,000 and created an accuracy problem on the return. The credit was always applied to incurred cost only. Today, read each program's rules on how its award changes when another program pays part of the cost. See Stacking Incentives for more on combining programs.
Which utilities offer make-ready programs
Make-ready programs exist primarily in states with clean-transportation standards or where regulators have approved utility EV programs. The list below (as of October 3, 2026) names examples of utilities that have run make-ready programs; it is not a list of currently open offers. Availability differs by territory, customer class, charger type, and program component, budgets and queues change, and several of the named programs are now closed, fully subscribed, or near the end of their current funding (see California, Eversource, and National Grid below). Confirm product-level status on the utility's current page before planning around funds.
- California, statewide: The California Public Utilities Commission has ordered the utilities' existing EV infrastructure programs to stop accepting new customer agreements by December 31, 2026, and left the statewide rebate program approved to follow them on pause (Decision 25-12-005, December 2025). No later order had restarted that rebate program as of October 3, 2026.
- PG&E, SDG&E (California): Both ran make-ready programs for fleets, multifamily, workplace, and public charging, and most of those programs are now fully subscribed and closed to new applications. PG&E's EV Power Ready pathway, under which PG&E designs, builds, and owns the utility-side equipment for a new, separately metered charging service, was accepting applications as of October 3, 2026; you pay for the chargers and everything on your side of the meter. SDG&E's Power Your Drive apartment and workplace programs are also fully subscribed (see the SDG&E utility page), and it closed its comparable pathway (Rule 45) to new applications on August 20, 2025.
- SCE (California): Charge Ready, including Charge Ready Transport for medium- and heavy-duty fleets, is no longer accepting applications. Projects already in the queue need fully signed agreements by December 31, 2026. SCE's Rule 29 is separate: a tariff rule, not a program, under which SCE pays for most utility-side make-ready work at non-residential and multifamily sites that put EV charging on its own meter. It has been in effect since January 2022, the December 2025 commission decision winding down the utility programs does not cover it, and SCE's Rule 29 application page showed no closure notice as of October 3, 2026. SDG&E closed its equivalent, Rule 45, on August 20, 2025 after reaching a funding cap set in its rate case, so confirm Rule 29's status with SCE before planning around it.
- Eversource (CT, MA, NH): Make-ready programs for commercial and multifamily sites. In Massachusetts the current program runs through 2026: Eversource asked for applications by October 1, 2026, and funding is reserved only by a fully signed agreement returned by December 31, 2026. In Connecticut, a 2025 state law cut the program's scale starting January 1, 2026; once the annual funding cap is reached, applications go on a waitlist.
- National Grid (MA, NY): Commercial charging programs with make-ready components. In Massachusetts, public and workplace applications are approved first come, first served while funding remains; National Grid asked for them by October 1, 2026, with signed pre-approval letters due by December 31, 2026. The Upstate New York Level 2 and DC fast charging make-ready program has not accepted new applications since April 3, 2026; medium- and heavy-duty charging follows a separate path with its own status. National Grid sold its Rhode Island utility in 2022, and it now operates as Rhode Island Energy.
- Xcel Energy (CO, MN): Commercial EV charging programs
- Consumers Energy, DTE Energy (MI): Commercial programs in Michigan
- ComEd (IL): Commercial EV programs in northern Illinois
- PSE&G (NJ): EV charging programs for commercial properties
Some large utilities have none either: as of October 14, 2026, PPL Electric Utilities in Pennsylvania answers "Not at this time" when asked whether it offers a make-ready program (see the PPL Electric page). Many smaller utilities have no make-ready program. Rural electric cooperatives and municipal utilities vary widely; some have strong programs, many have none.
Trade-offs to understand
Pro: lower upfront capital. Getting the infrastructure funded by the utility can be the difference between a project that pencils out and one that does not.
Pro: utility-owned infrastructure may be upgraded more reliably if grid capacity needs to expand later.
Con: the utility controls the timeline. Make-ready timelines of several months to a year or more are common, and some utilities are significantly backlogged. This is the schedule risk that most often derails a project's overall timeline.
Con: you give up control of the infrastructure. In a utility-owned program, changes, expansions, and modifications require utility approval.
Con: added complexity and earlier planning. The application and approval process front-loads work and requires you to start sooner than a self-funded project would.
Con: not available everywhere. If your utility has no program, this option simply does not exist for you.
How to check availability
Contact your utility's commercial or business customer team and ask specifically about EV make-ready or EV charging incentive programs; many utilities have a dedicated EV team. You can also check your state utility commission's website, which often lists approved utility EV programs and their terms. For a starting point, see your state page on this site, where utility programs are listed where known. The residential companion piece Utility EV Charger Rebates: A Growing Incentive Layer walks the broader pattern of utility-side EV programs (rebates, managed-charging credits, EV-specific tariffs) and is useful even for commercial readers since most utilities run both sides through the same EV program team.
A short pre-commitment checklist:
Last factually verified: 2026-10-03 against the utilities' own program pages (SCE Charge Ready and Charge Ready Transport, and SCE's Rule 29 tariff and application page; PG&E EV Fleet, Multifamily Housing and Small Business EV Charger, and EV Power Ready; SDG&E Power Your Drive for Workplaces, Apartments and Condos, and Fleets, and its Rule 45 notice; National Grid's Upstate New York and Massachusetts public and workplace program pages; Eversource's Massachusetts business EV rebate page and Connecticut program FAQs; DTE; Consumers Energy; PSE&G), California Public Utilities Commission Decision 25-12-005 (December 4, 2025), National Grid's May 25, 2022 notice of its Rhode Island utility sale, and the IRS Section 30C credit page. Xcel Energy's and ComEd's program pages did not load in full this session, so their entries were checked against search-indexed excerpts of those pages.
Corrections (August 11, 2026): This article previously listed National Grid's New York program among well-established make-ready offerings without noting its status; National Grid's Upstate New York Level 2 and DC fast charging make-ready program stopped accepting new applications after April 3, 2026, with medium- and heavy-duty charging on a separate path.
Corrections (October 3, 2026): This article previously listed National Grid as serving Rhode Island; National Grid sold its Rhode Island utility in May 2022. It also described SCE's Charge Ready program as closed only for the Turn-Key Installation option and PG&E and SDG&E as offering make-ready programs without noting status; SCE no longer accepts Charge Ready applications, and most PG&E and SDG&E make-ready programs are fully subscribed and closed to new applications.
