Leamington approves user fee for EV charging stations owned by the town

The Municipality of Leamington is moving to charge a user fee for anyone using municipally owned electric vehicle charging stations.

Council has approved a blended free and time-based model during Tuesday's meeting where users will be allowed free charging for a period of time and then be charged hourly, to encourage turnover once batteries are fully charged.

Gaspare Graziano, Engineering Project Manager, told council that taxpayer funded free energy for EV owners is not reasonable.

"Any charging fees collected  are submitted to the municipality monthly and will be used to offset the cost for providing electricity and charge point services such as cloud fees, maintenance and warranty," he says.

Under the fee schedule, charging will be free for the first two hours and then $4.00 per hour for between 8 a.m. and 7:59 p.m. A $5.00 flat rate will be applied between 8 p.m. and 7:59 a.m.

A map detailing current and future municipally owned electric vehicle charging stations at 111 Erie Street North in Leamington. (Image courtesy of the Town of Leamington)

Four Level 2 Charging Stations are now available at 111 Erie Street North for both the public and municipal use. 

According to a report to Council, Level 2 Charging Stations, common in both private households and in public places, use a 240 volt system (similar to a clothes dryer plug) and adds 40-50 kilometers of vehicle range per charging hour.

The report also found only three locations currently apply a charging fee across Windsor-Essex, one municipality and two private locations.