Title
Creating Chapter 441 of the Legislative Code (Title XXI) pertaining to electric vehicle charging rates at city-owned charging stations.
Body
SECTION 1
WHEREAS, the City of Saint Paul is deploying the EV Spot Network, comprised of EV Spot public charging and Evie carshare; and
WHEREAS, the EV Spot network aims to improve equitable access to clean and affordable transportation, reduce pollution, reduce pressure on automobile parking capacity, and otherwise improve the general welfare of the public; and
WHEREAS, EV Spot charging equipment will be owned and operated by the City; and
WHEREAS, the City seeks to balance a number of factors in determining the rate, with the primary factors being a desire to cover the maintenance of operations of the network, while offering a fair price for the service that will power Evie carshare as well as enable increased personal electric vehicle adoption; and
WHEREAS, the proposed rates are based on significant research on market trends and precedents; and
WHEREAS, the priority principles and considerations informing the rate recommendations include covering operating costs, incentivizing EV use through affordable rates, establishing a fair rate structure across different types of electric vehicles, encouraging home charging where possible, and incentivizing turnover of EV charging spaces; and
WHEREAS, the baseline measures to compare charging costs against are the cost of residential electricity ($0.14/kWh) and the cost of an equivalent amount of energy from gasoline ($0.30); and
WHEREAS, given the relative newness of the EV charging industry, rates are not currently standardized and typically fall within a range; level 2 charging per kWh nationally falls between $0.20-$0.30/kWh and fast charging falls between $0.28-$0.43/kWh; and
WHEREAS, in addition to the cost of electricity, other costs to operate the network include staffing, replacement parts, and communication and networking costs of the chargers beyond year five of the program; and
WHEREAS, to encourage turnover so that more EV drivers can utilize the City’s charging stations, thereby furthering the City’s equity, affordability, and clean energy goals, and to help cover the costs of the EV Spot Network, this ordinance proposes a dwell time penalty; and
WHEREAS, utilization and maintenance cost assumptions built into this rate setting will require revisiting the rates once actual operation of the network is underway so that actual use and maintenance costs can be utilized in rate setting; and
WHEREAS, the rates, fees and dwell time penalty collected under this ordinance are imposed to encourage frequent, reliable and equitable use of the network, and to cover the costs of deploying, maintaining and operating the EV Spot Network, and such rates, fees and penalties are not designed to exceed such costs; and
WHEREAS, to help achieve the City’s equity, affordability, and clean energy goals, and to help ensure the long-term viability of the EV Spot Network by encouraging the shared use of electric vehicles, this ordinance establishes a 20% discount on the per session connection fee provided in Sec. 441.02 for Car-share companies utilizing City-leased vehicles, and exempts such vehicles from dwell time penalties;
The Council of the City of Saint Paul does ordain:
SECTION 2
Chapter 441 of the Saint Paul Legislative Code entitled “City-owned Electric Vehicle Charging Station Rates” is hereby created to read as follows:
Sec. 441.01 - Applicability. The rates set forth in this Chapter apply to all public electric vehicle charging stations owned by the City of Saint Paul.
Sec. 441.02 - Rates. City-owned electric vehicle charging station rates must be provided and billed as follows, with sales tax being included:
SEE ATTACHMENT
Sec. 441.03 - Rate Payment. Customers will pay for electric vehicle charging directly from the point of service (the city-owned electric vehicle charging station) through credit card, app, or other payment processing service.
Sec. 441.04 - Dwell fee. Dwell fees will be enacted only in locations where there are posted time limits on charging and users remain plugged-in for longer than those time limits.
Sec. 441.05 - Rate Discount. Car-share companies utilizing City-leased vehicles will not be charged a dwell fee and must receive a 20% discount on the per session connection fee provided in Sec. 441.02.
SECTION 3
This Ordinance will take effect and be in force thirty (30) days following its passage, approval, and publication.