Oak Bay will add more electric charging stations and follow suit with Saanich in charging $1 per hour for the use of municipal chargers.
Oak Bay council unanimously approved the staff recommendation to install three more charging stations, each capable of charging two electric vehicles at once. They will also charge $1 per hour.
It means replacing the current charging station at Oak Bay municipal hall, which was purchased in 2012, and is part of the Flo Canada network. To save money, Oak Bay will switch to ChargePoint.
READ ALSO: Saanich to charge for electric vehicle station in 2021
The other two stations will be added to Oak Bay and Henderson recreation centres.
“ChargePoint collects a 10 per cent premium on revenue whereas Flo collects 15 per cent. ChargePoint also allows for dynamic prices [changing at peak hours],” said Steve Rennick, manager of engineering services.
Oak Bay pays an annual fee of $330 per year to the Flo network plus covers the cost of the electricity used. In 2019 drivers used the station for 7,482 hours to charge 3,265 vehicles.
It was approximately $2,700 worth of electricity from the municipal hall station for a cost of approximately $3,030.
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The staff report estimates an up-front fee of $28,000 to install three new stations. The annual operating cost will be around $8,300 with an annual income of around $11,250.
Surplus income from the chargers will go to the Climate Action Reserve fund.
“It’s important that we align with changes in other districts,” said Coun. Tara Ney.
