Dobbs Ferry trustees begin pricing plan for 32 village EV charging stations

At their Feb. 10 workshop the Dobbs Ferry Board of Trustees began work on a pricing and operations plan for 32 electric-vehicle charging stations planned around the village, with trustees asking staff to model energy and recurring maintenance costs and compare neighboring municipalities’ approaches.

"The first answer is we have 32 charging stations, throughout the village," Rob said, noting roughly 22 at the waterfront, eight at Village Hall and two on Main Street. Trustees and staff said those sites have different use patterns — overnight charging at Village Hall versus short top-offs downtown — that will affect revenue and utilization assumptions.

Trustees discussed what expenses should be passed to users. One participant cited maintenance estimates of "$13,000 a year," and the board debated whether to charge only electricity initially and defer maintenance pass-through to a later year while data are gathered. "We should charge the user 100% of that cost," one trustee said; others argued for starting with a modest rate to avoid an immediate sticker shock and adjusting later.

Staff said they are reviewing the county contract language and neighboring municipalities’ pricing. Rob told the board the county will not allow different rates for residents and nonresidents, "the only thing the county insisted on was that you don't have different rates between residents or nonresidents. It has to be the same rate." Trustees agreed to compile a spreadsheet modeling scenarios (utilization, per-kWh charges, idle fees and maintenance amortization) and requested Rob validate maintenance numbers and circulate data before the next meeting.

Next steps: staff will collect sample rates from nearby municipalities, confirm vendor maintenance costs, and present a use-case spreadsheet modeling breakeven and subsidy options at an upcoming meeting.