Electric vehicle owners will soon have to pay for using Norfolk County’s electric vehicle charging station.
Councilors recently voted in favor of introducing a $2 an hour fee for using the charging station located at the Norfolk County administration building in Simcoe. The station opened in 2021 as part of a pilot project and motorists have so far been able to charge their vehicles for free.
Councilors also voted to further discuss the possible installation of six charging facilities at county facilities throughout Norfolk during its 2023 budget deliberations on January 18.
“I think this is great and I thought it was a great initiative when you brought it to us earlier,” Mayor Amy Martin said at a recent council-in-committee meeting. “It has an economic development component, a tourism component and an energy conservation component.
“I think charging $2 is extremely reasonable.”
Martin hopes Norfolk businesses will consider investing in EV charging stations to ensure they’re available throughout the county.
A staff report said transitioning to a user fee means the costs of operating the EV station will be covered by those who benefit from it instead of all taxpayers.
Councilors were told that during June and July the EV charging station was used for a total of 87 hours, equal to 436 kWh (kilowatt hours) per month.
At that rate, spread over the rest of 2022 (August to Dec. 31), the annual electrical consumption from the station will be 5,220 kWh resulting in an annual electrical bill of about $1,083.
Norfolk County staff in July 2022 asked council to approve plans to install charging stations at the Port Dover Arena, Waterford Tricenturena, Delhi Community Center Arena, Langton Arena, Talbot Gardens and the Simcoe Recreation Centre/Annaleise Carr Aquatic Centre. All of the stations would be equipped with the ability to collect user fees.
The plan would cost $85,000 but more than half of the money would come from a federal/provincial grant program. The remaining $21,000 would come from the county’s energy conservation reserve fund.
However, council put off a decision and requested more information from county staff. Specifically, council wanted to know if a third-party – a private sector business – could put in EV charging stations instead of the county.
The issue was brought back to council its Dec. 13 council-in-committee meeting.
Councilors were told the county had been successful in getting grant money for the project. However, the funding has to be used by March, 31, 2023, a timeline that is impossible for staff to meet.
Instead, the grant funding will be used for two other projects – the Port Dover Harbor Marina upgrades and the rooftop solar project at the St. Williams Community Centre.
Meanwhile, county officials were able to identify one third-party or private sector company – that could supply, install and maintain EV charging stations on county property without any capital or maintenance investment from the municipality.
Councilors were also told an EV charging station operated by Tesla has been installed at the Canadian Tire Plaza on Queensway East in Simcoe. It is a pay-per-use station.
But councilors were also told that those stations can only be used by Tesla vehicles. Other electric vehicles could only use the Tesla charging stations if they had an adapter which aren’t available in Canada at present.
The number of electric vehicles has grown substantially in recent years and accounts for about 5.2 per cent of all vehicle sales in Canada. County officials expect the number of electric vehicles on the road will continue to increase as business and government leaders install charging stations at their facilities.
County officials say residents and businesses in Norfolk County generate approximately 281,955 tonnes of CO2 annually through transportation fuel. That accounts for about 54 per cent of the community’s greenhouse gas emission.
Electric vehicles meanwhile, generate 90 per cent less greenhouse gas emissions than vehicles that use traditional fuel.
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