KOA Says No, Public Parks Say Yes: The Great RV Campground EV Charging War Is Here
If you own an electric vehicle—or if you’ve spent any time wandering the loops of an RV park lately—you’ve probably noticed a silent war brewing right at the power pedestal – The Great RV Campground EV Charging War Is Here
As more RVers hit the road towing an EV behind their motorhome, or driving an electric truck to haul their travel trailer, a massive friction point has exploded between private campground owners and public park systems.
A brand-new industry directory report tracking campground EV rules just revealed a massive, nationwide divide: Private campgrounds (led heavily by KOAs) are issuing blanket bans on vehicle charging at RV sites, while public state and municipal parks are sprinting to welcome them.
For the consumer, it’s creating a frustrating, confusing mess of mixed signals. Let’s look at why this war is happening, who is winning, and what it means for your next road trip.
The Big Private “NO”: Why KOAs Are Slamming the Gates
According to the latest data from the Camp and Charge directory, private RV parks are overwhelmingly locking down their pedestals. Out of 19 KOA properties added to the database this month alone, 18 of them explicitly prohibit plugging an EV into the campsite outlet. And it’s not just a regional policy. From Pennsylvania to Utah, private park owners are citing the exact same fears:
- Pedestal Meltdown: RV pedestals were engineered to handle the intermittent, fluctuating loads of an RV air conditioner and microwave—not the continuous, maximum-amperage draw of an EV battery pulling power for 10 straight hours. Owners are terrified of melting breakers and frying their expensive underground infrastructure.
- The “All You Can Eat” Power Problem: Private parks pay commercial utility rates. When a guest pays a flat nightly fee and then pulls hundreds of kilowatt-hours to juice up a massive Ford F-150 Lightning on top of running their rig's triple A/Cs, the campground’s profit margin vanishes into thin air.
The result? Strict corporate policies, warning stickers on pedestals, and camp hosts actively policing what you plug into your site.
The Public “YES”: State Parks See An Opportunity for Campground EV Charging
On the flip side of the coin, public park systems are taking the exact opposite approach. The data shows that state, county, and municipal parks across the country are almost universally saying yes to EV charging—and they are finding smart ways to monetize it.
Take the Midwest, for example. Minnesota’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) doesn’t just allow campsite charging; they actively publish an official map showing exactly which state park campsites are equipped with EV-friendly plugin pedestals.
But public parks aren't just giving the electricity away for free. They are pioneering a shift that private parks should be copying instead of fighting: charging only the EV users for what they actually pull.
Instead of a flat surcharge on the whole site or an outright ban, municipal public utility parks are installing separate, dedicated Level 2 chargers right near the sites that bill the vehicle owner roughly $2.00 an hour. Your standard RV site fee remains a flat rate, but the EV power is metered separately. It protects the park's grid, covers the utility cost, and gives the EV traveler the exact convenience they need without penalizing standard RVers.
The Bottom Line: What This Means For You
Whether you love EVs or hate them, this infrastructure showdown impacts every single RVer. If private parks continue to issue blanket bans rather than upgrading their pedestals or installing dedicated charging bays (like Ruby’s Inn near Bryce Canyon, which just installed a massive 8-stall Tesla Supercharger on-site), they risk alienating a huge demographic of high-spending travelers.
For now, the rule of the road is simple: Never assume. If you are traveling with a hybrid or electric vehicle, call ahead. If you're booking private, expect to be told no. If you want the freedom to plug in without getting reprimanded by management, point your dashboard toward our incredible state and county park systems.
What's your take?
Have you run into campground charging bans on your travels this summer? Do you think private parks have a right to protect their grids, or are they falling behind the times?
Scroll down and share your experiences and comments in the comment section below! We read them all and want to hear what's happening out on the road.
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Anything that helps a park upgrade their wiring is helpful. We’ve had parks with wobbly pets that haven’t been touched since Edison’s days. Sockets so worn that plugs need zip-ties to stay in, peds caked with mud from the last three floods, wires eaten by chipmunks, boxes infested with wasps and termites, etc.
Electrical safety is taken for granted like potable water. Perhaps it shouldn’t be.
Just like a 75 year old house with 1950’s fuses and a 45 amp service, campgrounds need to be inspected and upgraded for modern demands. And we have no problem with being asked to pay for what we use, so long as the rates make sense. If the campground is getting power for 25 cents per KWH, and the wiring needs to be there anyway, it would not make consumers happy to have much of a premium added over and above actual cost.
And let’s get real about commercial campground rates. Private equity is taking them over at an astonishing pace. Jacking rates like for an NFL ticket or a Taylor Swift concert. If they can figure out a way, the need will be filled. But at a righteous rate of return?
We agree 100% with the private parks saying no to EV charging at the sites.
We have been RVing full time for the last six years in a Newmar Dutch Star that needs the 50amp service. In the years past and as recently as last month we have had multiple instances
of power drawdowns especially in hotter weather. We typically stay in private campgrounds because we find state parks don’t always fit larger rigs.
We have had to do energy management (juggling) at parks when the voltage drops to 109, which is one volt away from our Progressive Industries shutting us down to protect the electronics. Now these people want to draw down the system and affect our power. Some of the older parks would have to spend tens of thousands of dollars to upgrade their electrical systems to satisfy the few users that want it. If they want to upgrade they need to set aside a separate area for the pay charging stations that are not going to affect the rest of the park. If that’s not good enough, tell them to buy fossil fuels or camp in their driveway.
OF COURSE private park owners have the right to protect their property from anything they believe would damage it & endanger their customers\residents. Duh!
I did not see any substantiation of the “huge demographic” of EV rv owners you mention, which may be one reason KOA owners are not investing big money to upgrade their campgrounds electrical infrastructure. I have seen one Rivian truck in a campground in our travels over the last 10 years! Will have to see how the availability of a stable, state/provincial power grid handles this issue if more ev’s hit the road. They might have to compete with AI data centre’s for the “electric gold!”
A business decision not really unusual,if they don’t have the infrastructure and feel at this time it’s not a good business decision that’s up to any corporation,people who need these services simply go where there available,I would ask you Mike as a rv this would be part of your decision making in purchasing an rv.