How does Utah's 12.5% charging tax work?

Utah levies 12.5% on the retail sale of electricity at a public charging station, with the operator collecting and remitting. The model carries the absorbed-pricing reading — about 11.1% of gross charging revenue, the largest revenue-side line in the covered set. If the tax is passed through to drivers as a separate charge, the operator-side cost is zero, and the field is editable.

Are the modeled Utah rates final?

No — a rate-case settlement is pending before the commission that moves both the level and the energy-to-demand split. The figures carry current pre-settlement rates and re-derive when the order issues; the utility's stay-out through 2028 then makes the rates unusually stable.

ForgeAsset / Supercharger ROI / Utah

Tesla Supercharger ROI in Utah

Utah carries the largest revenue-side charging tax in the covered set. The state levies 12.5% on retail charging sales — under the operator-absorbed reading the model carries, that is about 11.1% of gross charging revenue, several times any per-kWh excise elsewhere. The underlying utility rate is Rocky Mountain Power's Schedule 8, with cheap time-of-use energy against a demand charge assembled from a facilities component and a seasonal on-peak window. A rate-case settlement is pending before the commission, so the modeled figures carry current pre-settlement rates and re-derive at the order.

Model a Utah site

What makes Utah economics distinct

A 12.5% tax on charging sales

Utah's retail charging tax, in force since 2024, applies to the sale price of electricity dispensed at a public station. Under the absorbed-pricing reading the model carries by default, the operator bears it as about 11.1% of gross charging revenue — the largest revenue-side line in the covered set. If the tax is instead passed through to drivers as a separate line, the operator-side cost is zero; the field is editable, and the 6% seller discount is disclosed rather than modeled.

A demand charge split across two seasons

Schedule 8's demand charge combines an unconditional facilities component with a seasonal on-peak power charge — a single afternoon window in summer, and a morning-plus-evening window in winter. Both coincide with a charging site's daily peak, so the model folds them at the summed rate of about $24.15 per kilowatt-month. The winter window spans two blocks billed as one charge on one measured maximum, which the model treats as one-sided conservative.

Seeded mid-case, with a re-derive at the order

A rate-case settlement pending before the Utah commission would raise base rates about 4.2% while cutting the energy-balancing rider about 10.6% — moving both the level and the energy-to-demand split. The modeled figures carry the current pre-settlement rates and re-derive when the commission issues its order, at which point the utility's stay-out through 2028 makes the rates unusually stable.

Cheap energy against the tax weight

Schedule 8 prices time-of-use energy near 6.9 cents on-peak and 3.5 cents off-peak, folding the utility's adjustment stack and Salt Lake City's 8.45% electricity sales tax. Utah's income tax lands on pass-through owners rather than the entity, and installation labor on affixed equipment is untaxed — so the state's cost weight concentrates almost entirely in the 12.5% charging tax.

Utilities and tariffs modeled in Utah

Utility & tariff	Energy	Demand
Rocky Mountain Power Sch 8	3.5¢/kWh–6.9¢/kWh by time of day	$24.15/kW of monthly peak

Rates are digit-verified against each utility's own filed sheets and update within two weeks of any revision. Full derivations are on the methodology page.

Utah tax profile

Sales tax on hardware: 8.45%
Business personal property tax: 1.35% of equipment value (example rate)
Clean-fuels credit: no program
Per-kWh charging excise: none

Utah tax defaults applied: no clean-fuels credit program exists in Utah (the LCFS revenue line is $0), and LLC costs use the $18 annual renewal. Utah's 12.5% tax on retail charging sales, in force since 2024, is carried as the revenue-tax line at its absorbed-pricing reading — about 11.1% of gross charging revenue; if the tax is instead passed through to drivers as a separate charge the operator-side cost is zero, and the field is editable. Sales tax uses Salt Lake City's 8.45% on hardware, with separately stated installation labor on affixed equipment untaxed; the electricity sales tax is already inside the modeled utility rate. Business personal property runs about 1.35% of depreciated cost per year. Utah's 4.55% income tax is an owner-level item the engine does not model.

Utah programs and incentives

Rocky Mountain Power make-ready and rebate programs

Utility incentives for commercial charging vary by program cycle; a specific award enters the model through the grant inputs.

NEVI (federal, UDOT-administered)

Federal corridor DC fast-charging funding along I-15, I-70, I-80, and I-84, administered in award rounds.

Utah charging market

Utah carries roughly 46 Supercharger stations, concentrated on the Wasatch Front and I-15. Rocky Mountain Power serves Salt Lake City, West Valley City, Sandy, Ogden, and Orem. Provo and Murray run municipal utilities, and St. George runs its own city power — none of which the model covers yet; addresses there see a named-utility notice rather than a wrong auto-selection.

Utah Supercharger ROI — questions

How does Utah's 12.5% charging tax work?: Utah levies 12.5% on the retail sale of electricity at a public charging station, with the operator collecting and remitting. The model carries the absorbed-pricing reading — about 11.1% of gross charging revenue, the largest revenue-side line in the covered set. If the tax is passed through to drivers as a separate charge, the operator-side cost is zero, and the field is editable.
Does Utah charge a demand charge on EV charging?: Yes — Rocky Mountain Power's Schedule 8 bills about $24.15 per kilowatt-month, combining an unconditional facilities component with a seasonal on-peak-window power charge that coincides with a charging site's peak. There is no ratchet.
Are the modeled Utah rates final?: No — a rate-case settlement is pending before the commission that moves both the level and the energy-to-demand split. The figures carry current pre-settlement rates and re-derive when the order issues; the utility's stay-out through 2028 then makes the rates unusually stable.

Sources

Model a Tesla V4 Supercharger site in Utah — payback, NPV, IRR, and a 15-year cash flow from your own inputs.

Run a Utah scenario

Other states: California, North Carolina, Georgia, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Florida, Arizona, Texas, Virginia, Illinois, Michigan, Tennessee, Montana, Idaho, Kansas, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Wyoming, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Alabama, Missouri, Wisconsin, Iowa, Indiana, Louisiana, Nevada, Washington, Ohio, New Hampshire, Kentucky. Coverage spans thirty-three states in total — see the full list.

ForgeAsset is software, not investment, tax, or legal advice — outputs are model estimates from your inputs, not guarantees. Rates and programs current as of research; verify current terms with each source before committing capital.