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Pitkin County considers opening DC fast charger at Public Works to public; pricing, safety and payback concerns raised
Summary
Pitkin County staff asked April 15 whether to open a new high‑power DC fast charger at the Public Works yard to public use; commissioners asked for a formal fee schedule, usage management rules and safety analysis.
Pitkin County public‑works and fleet staff proposed April 15 that the county open at least one of its new high‑power DC fast chargers at the Public Works campus to public use and seek board direction on pricing and operational rules.
Project background: Fleet staff said the county has been installing Level‑2 and DC fast chargers to support an expanding county electric fleet; one of the newly installed chargers is a high‑capacity DC fast unit capable of hundreds of kilowatts and was described as a “future‑proof” fast charger for large vehicle charging. The county currently uses ChargePoint for hardware and user management.
Board concerns and discussion: Commissioners and staff discussed several topics: (1) capital cost — staff said the premium DC fast charger purchase and associated works total roughly $185,000 for the unit (with site infrastructure raising the installed cost), (2) pricing — staff proposed roughly $0.60/kWh as a starting rate for public fast charging and noted ChargePoint will retain a service/processing fee, (3) demand management and safety — commissioners asked about notifications, reservation/status tools (ChargePoint shows availability), and policies to prevent vehicles from occupying a fast stall after charging (idle/overstay fees were discussed), and (4) payback — staff said public revenue would not pay back the charger within a short period given current local usage levels and that payback periods at low utilization can be long.
Operational detail: The fleet manager described how one county‑dedicated stall would remain available and how county vehicles would be prioritized; the installation included multiple stalls so redundancy for county assets would remain if the public used a portion of capacity.
Next steps: Staff will return with a recommended fee schedule and comparative pricing analysis (Aspen, Glenwood and other nearby examples) and will propose operational rules (idle fee, reservation protocols). Commissioners asked for monitoring data after public activation and asked staff to consider safety/turning conflicts at the Public Works access.
Ending: Commissioners were generally supportive of testing public use with a recommended fee and asked for a follow‑up report on usage and safety once the station opens to the public.
