Assume bad faith and put as many checks as you can efficiently include.
In this case, centralized registration and random operation auditing seems a minor expense, relative to the amount of money spent.
Build a broken incentive structure, shame on you when the outcomes aren't as desired... :(
What’s surprising is the lack of course correction. The California Energy Commission should threaten to sue, to claw back funds for non-performing chargers. Instead, they haven’t even changed the way they distribute new funds.
It always seems to boil down to "likelihood of auditing" vs "penalties for failing audit."
In single-business industries (e.g. selling gas), I'd imagine penalties are highly effective. A gas station banned from selling gas because they were caught mis-measuring amounts isn't much of a gas station!
California can’t even figure out how many chargers have been built. They know some aren’t working, they just can’t or won’t do anything about it. There doesn’t seem to be a downside to taking that money and putting up kaput chargers.
This is why this kind of stuff should be done with state capacity. Make it a normal employer employee relationship.