Commercial and Multifamily Property Owners in Minnesota: Get Thousands per Port for EV Charging Through Xcel’s New Rebate Program
For multifamily owners and managers, along with commercial property owners, developers, and site hosts, Xcel Energy’s new Commercial EV Infrastructure Rebate program offers a massive opportunity.
The program provides two separate rebates that can be combined for the same charging port. One rebate covers the electrical infrastructure behind the wall, and the other covers the chargers themselves. That means help with both the expensive make-ready work and the hardware, whether you’re adding resident charging to an apartment building, wiring a single parking lot, or building public fast charging. Both are paid as flat amounts for every port you install (a single connector, where one station can hold several), rather than as a percentage of your costs.
Available Funding for Different Properties
Infrastructure Rebate (EVSI) — $6,500 to $20,000 per Port
The first rebate covers the make-ready work: the panels, conduit, trenching, and wiring that bring power to the spot where a charger connects.
- Level 2, the common 240-volt speed for workplaces and apartments: $6,500 per port, rising to $10,000 in an Environmental Justice community.
- DC fast charging (DCFC), the high-power stations that charge in minutes: $13,000 per port, rising to $20,000 in an Environmental Justice community.
Charger Hardware Rebate (EVSE) — $1,200 to $40,000 per Port
The second rebate covers the charger itself, the Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE). Xcel offers hardware rebates only for a few high-priority uses, and where they apply, you can claim them on top of the EVSI rebate for the same port.
- Multifamily Level 2: $1,200 per port, or $1,800 in an Environmental Justice community, for apartment and condo properties adding resident charging.
- Public DCFC: $25,000 per port, or $35,000 in an Environmental Justice community, for fast chargers open to the public.
- School and Transit Buses: There is also funding available for DCFCs serving both electric school buses and electric transit buses: $20,000 per standard port, or $40,000 per bidirectional port. A bidirectional charger can send power from the bus battery back to the grid or building, not just into it, which is why it carries the higher amount.
Your project has to match one of three uses: a multifamily property adding Level 2 charging, a site offering public DC fast charging, or a school/transit bus operator installing DCFC. A standard workplace lot, for example, can still claim EVSI for its Level 2 wiring, but would not qualify for a hardware rebate.
Funding Caps & Program Limitations
The newly released Terms and Conditions introduce strict funding limits for large-scale deployments:
- Project Cap: Rebate amounts are strictly capped at $1 million per individual project.
- Payee Cap: If you are assigning your rebate to a Vendor or Charging-as-a-Service (CaaS) provider to claim an upfront discount, that Payee is capped at receiving a maximum of $5 million in aggregate rebates per calendar year.
Environmental Justice Areas
The higher rebate amounts apply only to installations inside a designated Environmental Justice community. Because the gap between the standard and Environmental Justice rate is large, confirm your address against the Environmental Justice Map before you budget around the bigger figure.
The Program is Now Live: How to Apply
The Xcel Energy Minnesota Commercial EV Infrastructure Rebate Program is officially live and accepting applications. Rebates are reviewed on a first-come, first-served basis, subject to scoring criteria and application completeness.
Important Note on Pre-Approval: You must secure a signed Reservation Letter from Xcel before you make any purchases or begin construction. Any project executed or invoiced prior to receiving this letter is completely ineligible for funding.
Step-by-Step Application Process:
- Submit an Intake Form: Visit the live program site at mn.my.xcelenergy.com/s/business/ev to complete the initial Project intake form.
- Connect with an EV Advisor: An Xcel EV Advisor will contact you to discuss your timeline, interconnection needs, and provide the formal Program Application.
- Secure Your Reservation Letter: Submit your application with your preliminary designs, quotes, and specification sheets. Once approved, you will sign a Reservation Letter that formally locks in your reserved funding up to a specific expiration date. If your project requires a new line of service, you must also submit a separate “Builder’s Call Line” application to secure grid capacity.
- Install & Get Paid: Complete construction and submit your final invoices and Project Completion Documents before your reservation expires. Once verified, rebates are typically paid within 6 to 8 weeks.
Point-of-Sale Discounts and CaaS
Instead of paying full price and waiting for a check, you see the rebate come off the top. Customers can assign their rebate to a Vendor as a Payee to receive the value at the point of sale. That design also supports charging-as-a-service (CaaS) arrangements, where upfront capital expenses are replaced with a predictable monthly payment. Any CaaS Provider acting as the Qualifying Customer on behalf of a Site Host must provide a Letter of Intent (LOI) demonstrating the Site Host’s approval.
Get in touch with us today to learn how we can help you make the most of Xcel’s rebates and deliver reliable charging for the people who use your property.
