Gardena sets public EV charging pass-through rates, approves fee study to set future charges
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Summary
City council adopted a pass-through rate policy for three new public electric vehicle chargers and authorized a $11,000 consultant fee study to determine long-term rates covering maintenance and operations.
The Gardena City Council on Oct. 14 adopted a resolution establishing initial public electric-vehicle (EV) charging rates and approved a consultant study to determine long-term fees that would cover maintenance and operating costs.
Under the action, the city will pass through the electricity cost billed by Southern California Edison (SCE) plus a contractor fee of 3 cents per kilowatt-hour to cover payment processing. The staff report describes SCE’s EV time-of-use rates as variable by season and time of day; the presentation cited summer SCE rates ranging from about 23¢ to 64¢ per kilowatt-hour and winter rates ranging from about 13¢ to 44¢ per kilowatt-hour.
The council also approved a $10,000 fee study by Matrix Consulting Group plus a 10% contingency for a total not-to-exceed $11,000. The study will analyze usage, maintenance and amortization of equipment and propose fee adjustments after the city collects operational data. City staff said the three publicly available chargers will be installed at Raleigh Park, Arthur Johnson Park and the parking lot adjacent to the police department on 160 Second Street; staff expects installation and initial operation to be complete by March (year specified in the staff presentation) and said matrix will evaluate roughly 12 months of usage data.
City managers told the council the initial pass-through approach reflects currently known costs (electricity and contractor collection fee) and that additional charges to cover maintenance, replacement and staffing would be set after the fee study and a monitor period. The staff memo said the city’s proposed rates will be significantly lower than local commercial charging operators (examples in the staff report included area commercial rates of roughly 48¢–74¢/kWh).
Council members asked about overnight charging at park sites and “idle” fees to encourage turnover. Staff said parks will remain closed overnight and that the city will not impose an idling fee at launch; the Matrix study will consider whether to recommend turnover charges later if utilization patterns warrant them. The council voted 5-0 to adopt the resolution and to authorize the Matrix Consulting Group fee study.
The staff report says the city will pass through changes to SCE rates as they occur. Staff estimated the consultant study and any discretionary fees would be paid from the general fund for the fee study; the electricity itself will be billed to charger users.
