Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transportation Electric Vehicles topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
Council approves pilot EV chargers on Broadway; county to contract with Sky Blue for operations
Summary
Commissioners approved placement on file of a professional services agreement to manage two public EV chargers on Broadway and considered two additional chargers at Stodden Park; Sky Blue will provide remote monitoring and management.
The Butte-Silver Bow Council of Commissioners on April 16 concurred and placed on file a professional services agreement to manage two Level‑2 electric vehicle chargers installed in the Broadway and Main parking lot, with a possible expansion of two more chargers at Stodden Park. The motion passed 9-2.
Why it matters: public EV charging infrastructure affects tourism and local businesses, parking enforcement, and small recurring electricity and management costs for the county.
Director of Community Development Karen Burns described the project as a local pilot installed with private partners. “All of this was done with Sky Blue,” Burns said, noting Northwestern Energy, Markovich Construction and Mark Electric donated parts of the installation. Burns said Butte‑Silver Bow has not paid installation costs and that the county currently pays the electricity with costs charged to the URA.
Sky Blue’s Steve Grover explained the proposed management arrangement: the company would remotely monitor uptime, provide monthly usage reports and perform or dispatch repairs. “We are full time monitoring on those,” Grover said, adding Sky Blue keeps spare units and can swap a unit if one fails. Grover described the chargers as cell‑connected and said installation costs averaged roughly $4,000 per unit.
Operational details discussed at the meeting included: keeping the chargers in a free mode initially to measure use, then possibly enabling fees with a revenue‑share to offset the management fee (the draft figure mentioned was about $50 per month for two chargers, credited back against revenue if charging becomes paid). Parking enforcement and signage would limit misuse of EV spaces; the parking department would receive any revenue if fees are adopted.
Council action: Commissioner Fisher moved to concur and place the professional services agreement on file; the motion passed by a 9‑to‑2 vote. Commissioners asked for monthly usage reporting, signage and patrolling to protect EV stalls from non‑EV parking.
Next steps: Sky Blue will activate management, provide usage reports and the county will monitor use before deciding on potential fees or wider rollout.
