Any natural or legal person, public or private, is authorized to install, develop, and operate electric vehicle recharging centers, as well as to sell the general-interest service of electric vehicle recharging. The Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae) shall issue the corresponding regulation for the construction and operation of the infrastructure and recharging centers; likewise, the installation of the recharging center must comply with the applicable technical regulations for connection to the electrical grid, according to the provisions of the Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep). The Costa Rican Electricity Institute must be consulted in advance by the authorized party prior to installing the recharging center.
The natural or legal person operating a recharging center must guarantee the reliability and safety of its equipment and assume all responsibility directly associated with the service it offers, as well as for any damage it may eventually cause, both to its customers and to the electrical grid of the electricity distribution company. Recharging centers, as established by regulation, must hold a civil liability insurance policy covering third parties.
There shall be a basic network of recharging centers to ensure nationwide coverage; the construction and commissioning of this basic network of recharging centers shall be the responsibility of the electricity distribution companies. The Ministry of Environment and Energy (Minae) shall have the obligation to oversee the construction of said network, via regulation. The Public Services Regulatory Authority (Aresep) shall supervise this basic network of recharging centers, as defined by this law. This basic network of recharging centers on national highways must be constructed and commissioned with at least one recharging center every eighty kilometers (80 km); on cantonal roads, at least one recharging center must be constructed and commissioned every one hundred twenty kilometers (120 km). The indicated distances and quantities of recharging centers may be adjusted by Minae, via regulation.
Minae shall promote and implement incentive mechanisms for the development of recharging centers on national routes, in rural areas, and in areas of low demand density, in accordance with international standards.