Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Electric Vehicle Charging topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Oversight committee hears county staff describe $1,000-a-month bill for parking garage EV meters
Summary
County staff told the oversight committee that electric vehicle charging stations in the County Square parking garage currently cost about $1,000 per month to operate, that a $5,400 donation will cover several months, and that the county is studying longer-term options including fee-based charging when the garage becomes a pay garage.
The Greenville County Oversight Committee was told Wednesday that the county is paying roughly $1,000 per month to supply electricity to all electric-vehicle charging stations in the County Square parking garage.
The matter came up during the committee’s business items when a member said, “The next item we're gonna bring up is the electric charging meters in our parking garage, and we will defer to Kurt to make those comments.” A staff speaker identified in the meeting as Kurt said, “They cost approximately $1,000 a month. We were able to get that price down. It used to be 1,600.”
Kurt told the committee the monthly charge is for the full set of chargers in the garage, not per individual pedestal. “Per month. For for for all of them,” he said when a committee member asked for clarification. He said Duke Energy had initially estimated a higher usage and had reduced the charge based on actual usage.
Why it matters: county officials said the chargers benefit both the public and employees who drive electric vehicles, but the ongoing utility cost is a line item the county must fund until a long-term plan is in place. Kurt said the county received a one-time donation to help cover near-term costs: “We did get a, donation to pay for them. I believe it was $5,400,” and that would “carry us a number of months.”
Committee members asked about options for the next steps. Staff said the county is considering multiple approaches, including retrofitting or replacing pedestals, and that an eventual move to a pay-for-parking system after County Square shows more evening and weekend activity might create an opportunity for fee-based charging. “So we might wanna look at having pay for pay for fee chargers at that time,” one committee member said; staff agreed that a fee-based model is “very possible.”
Details and unanswered questions: Kurt said the garage currently hosts roughly 34 chargers, that commercial-rate fees include additional fixed charges, and that the county is exploring options because some chargers probably cannot be retrofitted for different hardware. He also said staff had not received public complaints about charger availability: “Had a complaint. There's always many that are open,” he said when asked whether users were frequently unable to find an available charger.
Next steps: staff said it will continue to research options and report back when a long-term solution is identified. No formal decision or vote was taken during the meeting.
