BY
MARYLAND MATTERS
APRIL 30, 2025
The little-known team of 18 Maryland Department of Agriculture inspectors that typically checks equipment such as gas pumps and grocery store scales for accuracy has a new target: electric vehicle chargers.
In recent weeks, the department has begun dispatching the “weights and measures” inspectors to public EV charging stations around the state for the first time, in response to customer complaints, said Alison Wilkinson, the agency’s chief of weights and measures.
It might come as a relief for EV drivers, including Agriculture Secretary Kevin Atticks, who said he sometimes struggles to find reliable chargers for his state-issued electric car.
“It’s become more important, obviously, as I can’t get back from someplace, because I go to three different places, and I spend an hour sitting there … And it’s not charging,” Atticks said in a recent interview.
Wilkinson said the weights and measures team won’t police chargers for their “uptime,” or how often they work for motorists, instead making sure that each charger gives an accurate accounting of the electricity it is dispensing, and charges consumers accordingly.
But if an inspector visits an inoperable charger, Wilkinson said her agency would take action, notifying the operator and requiring fixes.
“We do not oversee uptime. That does not fall under Weights and Measures authority. However, under Weights and Measures authority, it does specify that the device owner is required by Maryland law to maintain their devices in an accurate working state for the consumer,” Wilkinson said.
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