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Home My WebLink About8.2 Electronic Vehicle Charge Station FeeOF Ill 4 �Ir 111 113 � =�, 82 DATE: TO: STAFF REPORT CITY COUNCIL April 15, 2014 Honorable Mayor and City Councilmembers CITY CLERK File #800 -10 FROM: Christopher L. Foss, Acting City Manager J SUBJECT: Consideration of Electric Vehicle Charging Station Fee for sage Prepared by Kathy Southern, Environmental Technician EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: The City Council will receive a report on the usage of the Dublin EV Stations and will consider amending the Master Fee Schedule to include a charging fee in order to reduce wait times and increase the use of the charging stations. FINANCIAL IMPACT: Establishing a fee for use of the City's electric vehicle charging stations will generate revenue to partially offset the cost of electricity and annual maintenance. RECOMMENDATION: Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a Resolution amending the City of Dublin Master Fee Schedule by adding a fee for electric vehicles using City charging stations. Submitted By Assistant to the City Manager DESCRIPTION: Reviewed By Acting Assistant City Manager The City had three Electric Vehicle (EV) charging stations installed through a combined Federal and State Grant program in early 2012. The stations have been popular and are in full use most of the time. The grant included all the installation costs and maintenance through December 2013. The only cost to the City up until 2014 was the energy cost for the use of the stations. Page 1 of 4 ITEM NO. 8.2 Station Usage EV station usage has climbed significantly since the stations were installed. For the first eight months of operation in 2012, there were a total of 1,100 users and the City paid approximately $940 in energy costs that year. Since that time, the monthly number of users has climbed from approximately 150 in 2012, to close to 300 for most of 2013. Over the past six months, station usage has been averaging more than 350 users per month. In 2013, the total number of users was approximately 3,400, and the energy cost was approximately $3,800 for the year. Hours plugged in by month went from 160 in January 2013, to over 1,100 hours a month for the past four months. In short, station usage continues to gain in popularity. Starting in mid -2012, Staff began to notice that some users were parking in the EV spots for long periods of time (see below table), sometimes all day, and often even all night. The City has received complaints from users that couldn't access any of the stations. Often, these complaints coincide with a user that has been parked at one or more of the stations for an excessive period of time. In 2013, in an attempt to curb such behaviors, polite signs were posted on the stations asking users to limit their hours to four or less. Most users graciously comply with the request and are courteous EV station users, but there are still several users who are continuing their excessive usage. In fact, there are a few users that regularly park for 12 or more hours at a time and often overnight, blocking other users from using the station in the morning. Industry standards note that most EV users can get a full charge in four hours or less. Finally, Staff believes that greater equity in station usage would result by including a fee to charge a vehicle beyond a certain number of hours. G0O 500 400 300 200 20D 0 Station Costs Single visits to EV stations of 10 hours or more M M !n C ,� +o m M a 36 I 2 1 154 7 2! T T o ■ u of U secs at 10 hours + a Total Hours. Plugged in ■ kWh Used As part of the grant to install the EV stations, maintenance fees were paid for through December 2013. For 2014, the City paid an annual service agreement fee for all three stations at $630. Staff anticipates that the annual fee will remain the same for the foreseeable future. In addition, the City is paying approximately $430 a month for the energy cost of the stations for a total estimated annual cost of about $5,800. Page 2 of 4 Staff has researched other local agencies on their fee structure and usage and believes that a per -hour fee for every hour used will significantly reduce the number of users. For example, the City of Pleasanton installed their EV stations around the same time as Dublin. Within a few months of starting, partly because of excessive users and partly to recover their costs, they started charging a fee of $1 per hour to users. Their station usage dropped dramatically and is still less than Dublin's monthly user levels of a couple of years ago. Other cities that charge a fee also have significantly less users and hours charged on their stations. The agencies that don't charge a fee to the general public have much higher use overall. Staff has investigated the various options that the City could undertake to alleviate the problem of long -term parking, and at the same time, continue to promote the usage and purchase of electric vehicles. Staff believes the best option is to offer users a set number of hours for free, consistent with current practice, then charge an hourly rate that will encourage users to move on once they are fully charged. The City's fees would still be competitive with that of other jurisdictions within the area as shown in the below table. Agency Livermore San Pleasanton Danville Walnut Berkeley Alameda Dublin Ramon Creek County Total 1 1 5 1 3 2 40 3 Stations Users Allowed Staff Only Public Public Staff Only Public Public Public Public Parking Parking Hourly garage fee garage fee Free through Fee n/a $2 $1 n/a only - only -$1.00 for 2014 Free $0.50 per 1st hour, $15 hour max per day Staff would like to continue to encourage EV users to frequent the stations at the Civic Center. Free use of the stations, even if for a limited time, will keep users plugging in. Therefore, Staff would like to recommend a fee structure that allows a free period of two hours, and then an hourly fee of $2.00 after the two free hours to encourage charged vehicles to move out of the spot. For those needing a full charge, which would take about 4 hours, the cost would breakdown to $1 an hour (2 free hours and 2 hours at $2 each). The majority of EV users would still be free as the average user visits the Library and Civic Center for less than two hours at a time. Potential revenues from the fee structure are difficult to calculate, as most users will leave much quicker once they have to start paying for it. Staff feels that it can conservatively expect revenues of $4,000 per year; which will recover some but not all of the costs of the EV charging stations. Revenues will likely decline over time as users adjust to the fee to avoid charging for more than two hours. NOTICING REQUIREMENTS /PUBLIC OUTREACH: Page 3 of 4 Staff will place signage in front of the stations 30 days before the change, along with posting it on the City website and notices at the Dublin Library. ATTACHMENTS: 1. Resolution Amending the City of Dublin Master Fee Schedule by Adding a Fee for Electric Vehicles Using City Charging Stations. Page 4 of 4 RESOLUTION NO. XX - 14 A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF DUBLIN * * * * * * * * * ** AMENDING THE CITY OF DUBLIN MASTER FEE SCHEDULE BY ADDING A FEE FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLES USING CITY CHARGING STATIONS WHEREAS, the City maintains a Master Fee Schedule setting forth fees and charges for various services; and WHEREAS, the City has installed electric vehicle charging stations at the Dublin Library that are available for use by the general public and may install additional stations at various locations throughout the City if and when appropriate; and WHEREAS, it is appropriate to amend the Master Fee Schedule to include fees for use of the City's electric vehicle charging stations. NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED that the City Council of the City of Dublin hereby amends the City of Dublin Master Fee Schedule Section 1.0 (General & Administrative) to add a new line number 130 for a City Electric Vehicle Charging Station Usage Fee to read as follows: PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of April, 2014, by the following vote: AYES- NOES- ABSENT- ABSTAIN: ATTEST: City Clerk Mayor ATTACHMENT 1 Hourly fee to encourage users The first two hours of to charge and leave the station usage of a City electric 130 City Electric Vehicle when done charging, This fee vehicle charging station is Charging Station Usage will discourage long -time user free, then $2.00 per hour parking at the stations so other of usage thereafter. users can plug in. PASSED, APPROVED AND ADOPTED this 15th day of April, 2014, by the following vote: AYES- NOES- ABSENT- ABSTAIN: ATTEST: City Clerk Mayor ATTACHMENT 1