City councillors debated the pros and cons of adding more electric vehicle charging stations in Edmonton and who should pay for them.
The issue was part of the agenda for executive committee on Tuesday.
Much of the discussion centred around whether the city should be involved in the business of providing “fuel infrastructure.”
“Electricity is a fuel,” Coun. Tony Caterina said, “and should we be in that business?
“Should we be providing that type of incentive to car dealerships, electric vehicles? Why don’t we do that with other types of vehicles? Is it right for the city to be involved in this type of business or not?”
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Initially, the proposed pilot project – called Plug’n Go Edmonton – suggested 100 electric vehicle charging stations be installed in the first quarter of 2017. Seventy would be put on private properties and 30 would be put on city-owned property. The estimated cost for 100 charging stations was $1 million.
On Tuesday, councillors decided to scale down the project to a total of 30 electric vehicle charging stations that would all be put on public property. The cost of buying 30 charging stations is expected to be about $300,000. Council as a whole would have to approve the project.
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“We’re still going to allocate $300,000 – which I voted against but that’s what passed – towards external charging stations,” Coun. Michael Oshry said. “Mostly for city-owned vehicles but also for private individuals so we’re still subsidizing and paying for private vehicles, which I’m not a fan of.”
Oshry suggested industry is already building the infrastructure for electric vehicles.
“There are going to be private enterprises that are going to build these things,” Oshry said. “Tesla has them all over the U.S. and parts of Canada. Shopping centres and restaurants might decide to put one in their parking lot to attract business.”
He said he’s not against being green but doesn’t like the idea of the taxpayer paying for the “fuel” and paying for the stations.
“We have a limited amount of money. We have lots of green initiatives – Blatchford needs green initiative money – so at some point, you have to allocate what you think is the most useful and I’m not sure this is the most useful.”
Oshry pointed out most owners of electric vehicles charge their vehicles in their garage every night and don’t need much more power than that to get around each day.
According to a city report, there are 150 electric and plug-in hybrid electric vehicles registered in Edmonton.
“For the life of me, I don’t understand why we’re even looking at this at this point.”
There are currently 23 publicly-accessible charging stations in Edmonton at 13 locations, including four on city-owned property (one at Jasper Place Library and three at Mill Woods Library).
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The results of the pilot would help develop an “electric vehicle strategy” for the city. The four-year pilot would allow city administration to “assess citizen perceptions on uptake of electric vehicles, usage, feasibility, siting considerations, seasonal performance, costs and benefits,” the report to executive committee read.
Yearly electrical charges are estimated to be between $200 and $600 for each station.
Coun. Michael Walters supported the pilot, noting the money for it would come from re-allocations in the budget. He added no issues are being raised about subsidies for the gas industry so why are there concerns about an electric charging station subsidy?
“Public is using our power,” he said. But “it’s a pretty small cost.”
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