Electric vehicle users choosing to power up in Oak Park will soon be paying a fee to do so.
In a 4-2 vote Tuesday night, the village board approved charging a 25-cents-per-kilowatt-hour user fee, the market rate and village staff’s recommendation. It will apply to village-owned public stations. Trustee Susan Buchanan was absent from the meeting due to a death in her family.
These stations had been free. Users used to pay only for parking in lots or garages, when applicable.
The new revenue, according to Development Services Director Emily Egan, would offset maintenance costs and electricity fees, and also help expand the village’s charging network. Village officials said they anticipate about $14,000 in revenue from the implemented user fee. Some other options presented in May, including a 15 cents per kWh fee or a 10 cents per kWh fee, would have caused the village to run a deficit.
Village officials say more than 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in Oak Park come from cars and trucks, making it the second largest driver of climate change. The Climate Ready Oak Park plan lays out the goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 60% by 2030 and reach net-zero levels by 2050. Access to more electric vehicle charging stations may help the village reach that goal.
Egan also said that Sean Keane, the village’s parking and mobility services manager, has determined that there’s been about a 35% increase in electric vehicles in Oak Park compared with last year. So, the need for charging stations is increasing.
The board voted to waive the second reading of the ordinance and approved it Tuesday night. Egan said the fee could be implemented as early as August and village staff will monitor usage and revenue for the remainder of the year.
The fee will be reviewed annually and can be changed. That was an important factor for Trustees Ravi Parakkat and Cory Wesley, who each voted against the fee. Wesley said he doesn’t think the fee is enough and wants to see more profit. At the May 14 board meeting, Wesley said he wanted to see Oak Park follow a model like River Forest, which charges $10 per hour to use the station for more than two hours.
The typical demographic of those who own electric vehicles, Wesley said, are folks with moderate- to high-incomes, and therefore can afford higher fees to offset parking costs for others. The revenue from the fee will go into the parking enterprise fund.
“If we can charge more and have a tax that lands predominately on folks that can afford it more than everyone else in the village, I think that is also a good thing,” he said.
Parakkat agreed that testing higher prices now would be beneficial.
Trustee Brian Straw, however, disagreed. He said the village should stick with the market rate before electric vehicle users decide not to use Oak Park’s charging stations at all, meaning no revenue would come in.
The total annual expenses to increase access to charging station infrastructure are estimated at around $46,000. Since revenue is projected to be about $60,000, the $14,000 leftover will go into the parking enterprise fund, which the board directed. This fund has a deficit, according to village officials, due to capital improvement expenses and debt service obligations associated with village parking lots and structures.
The revenue from this fee for fiscal year 2024 is projected to be about $25,000, according to village officials.
Expecting municipalities to provide electric vehicle charging for free is not sustainable, Buchanan later told Wednesday Journal. So, anything that makes a transition to more electric vehicles in the village more feasible, she said she’ll support.
“I talked to a lot of EV owners about [the] issue and across the board, people understood that it was reasonable to have to pay for their charging and they were willing to do it,” she said.
Correction, July 17, 2024: A previous version of this story misspelled Sean Keane’s name. We regret the error.