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Salt Lake City supports clean air by removing fees at electric vehicle charging stations

Salt Lake City has removed all user fees for its public EV charging stations. The change came after the Salt Lake City Council adopted a resolution on February 6 in response to a proposal from Mayor Biskupski to eliminate fees for its public Level 2 charging infrastructure.

The City currently has 28 EV charging ports available to the public. Additional stations will be installed throughout the city in 2018. A user fee of $1.00 to connect plus $0.10 per kilowatt-hour was previously in place but is now eliminated to encourage use of the charging stations and to drive the adoption of clean electric vehicles.

“Salt Lake City is doing everything we can to improve air quality and supporting electric vehicles is a core part of our commitment,” said Mayor Biskupski. “We looked at the fiscal impact of waiving fees versus the public benefits of encouraging electric vehicle usage and this is a slam dunk.”

Electric vehicles are an essential solution to local air quality issues. Even when accounting for the emissions from electricity generation, EVs reduce local types of air pollution up to 99% along the Wasatch Front compared to a new gasoline vehicle (source).

“Investing in people who choose clean air options make sense,” said Salt Lake City Council Chair Erin Mendenhall. “Electric vehicles are a good choice to help our City reduce pollution. We should encourage it.”

In a recent analysis submitted to the City Council, the Sustainability Department estimated an annual financial impact of up to $12,000 in utility costs associated with providing free electricity at existing stations. The analysis also indicated a conservative estimate of $13,000 annually to cover electricity costs at the soon-to-be-unveiled EV stations at the airport.

The City will continue to monitor use and costs now that fees have been waived and will evaluate whether to reinstitute a charging fee at the appropriate time.

Salt Lake City completed the installation of 28 public charging ports in March 2017. New charging stations will be coming online at Salt Lake City International Airport this spring along with additional locations throughout the City later this year.

For more information:

Salt Lake City’s public electric vehicle charging stations: http://www.slcgov.com/transportation/transportation-electric-vehicle-charging-stations

The Potential for Electric Vehicles to Reduce Vehicle Emissions and Provide Economic

Benefits in the Wasatch Front”: http://www.swenergy.org/data/sites/1/media/documents/publications/documents/2017_EV_Emissions_Update_Wasatch_Front_Jan-2017.pdf

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