Longmont will once again levy a $1 per hour fee at the city’s five electric vehicle charging stations on August 1, which is on par with what other communities impose, Longmont City Council members were told Tuesday night.
The $1 fee is the same amount Longmont charged electric vehicle owners in 2019 until the city replaced four existing charging stations with more advanced technology, according to a city staff report.
Waiving the $1 fee at the time was part of an effort to reinvigorate usage of the EV stations, Tim Ellis, Longmont renewable strategy manager, told the city council during a work session.
In 2020, 342 unique users used the charging stations, with 3,714 individual charging sessions, and about 43,000 kilowatt hours of electricity were used to charge EVs, the city staff report states.
In explaining the return to the $1 fee, the city reports states that as customers embrace and use the EV stations, the stations can become self-sustaining. “Self-sustaining programs then free up resources to focus on additional beneficial programs supporting city initiatives,” the report states.
Based on the use of EV stations in 2020, reinstituting a $1 per hour fee will generate about $12,000 a year. “This funding covers the cost of owning and operating the existing EV stations and will allow the city to incrementally invest in additional public stations or other EV infrastructure over time,” the report states.
The public charging stations are located at the Longmont Memorial Building, Development Services Center, the Longmont Library garage, Longmont Museum and the Service Center, Ellis said.
