TO:
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council
THROUGH:
Bruce Moe, City Manager
FROM:
Erick Lee, Public Works Director
Sean Roberts, Maintenance Manager
Erika King, Senior Management Analyst
SUBJECT:Title
Consideration of Developing Fees to Recover Costs Related to Electric Vehicle Charging at City Facilities (Public Works Director Lee).
(Estimated Time: 15 Mins.)
DISCUSS AND PROVIDE DIRECTION
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Recommended Action
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council discuss and provide direction on whether the City should consider developing fees to recover costs related to Electric Vehicle (“EV”) charging at City facilities.
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FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
If the City Council directs staff to develop EV charging fees for consideration, staff time and resources would be expended. The implementation of fees would allow the City to recover related expenses including, but not limited to, direct electricity costs, the maintenance and replacement of charging equipment, and the expansion of the EV charging program. There are no additional fiscal implications associated with the recommended action at this time.
BACKGROUND:
The City currently operates 28 EV charging stations at 10 locations which provide free charging to the public. The purchase and installation of these units occurred in 2013 and 2019 and were funded by Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC) clean transportation grant funds and AB 2766 funds. The City currently bears 100% of the cost of the electricity distributed by these chargers, along with all maintenance and repair of the equipment. The locations of the EV Chargers are:
• Manhattan Beach Art Center at 1560 Manhattan Beach Blvd. 2 stations
• Parking Lot #2 at 222 12th Street 2 stations
• Metlox Parking Lot at 451 Manhattan Beach Blvd 4 stations
• Joslyn Center at 1601 N. Valley Drive 2 stations
• Live Oak Park at 1901 N. Valley Drive 2 stations
• Upper North Pier Parking Lot at 1125 Ocean Drive 2 stations
• Upper South Pier Parking Lot at 1121 Ocean Drive 2 stations
• Civic Center Parking Garage (not including City fleet chargers) 8 stations
• Parking Lot #3 at 1155 Morningside Drive 2 stations
• Parking Lot #4 at 3738 Highland Ave 2 stations
The stations vary in connectivity to the electricity meters, with some chargers on separate SCE meters or accounts and others connected to meters at the host facility. Based on the available information, staff estimates that the City currently distributes approximately 323,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of electricity via its EV chargers annually. At the average rate of $0.28 per kWh, this equates to approximately $90,000 in City costs for EV charging that are currently not recovered each year.
A survey of the surrounding area revealed the following municipalities provide EV charging to the public:
CITY Charges a Fee for Use of EV Chargers
Beverly Hills Yes
El Segundo Yes
Hermosa Beach Combination of free and fee-based chargers
Los Angeles Combination of free and fee-based chargers
Redondo Beach Yes
Santa Monica Yes
DISCUSSION:
The City’s EV charging program is not supported directly by fees from those who utilize this service. As such, the ongoing operations and maintenance costs of this program, along with the eventual replacement of this equipment, are supported by general tax revenues.
Given the prevalence of electric vehicles in the Greater Los Angeles Region, coupled with the fact that many municipalities now charge the public for electricity provided by their EV charging stations, staff recommends that the City Council provide direction on whether the City should develop fees to recover costs related to EV charging at City facilities. Besides recovering the direct electricity costs, these fees could be used to maintain the equipment, replace equipment when it reaches the end of its useful life, and assist with funding the expansion of the City’s EV charging program into additional facilities and locations.
PUBLIC OUTREACH:
After analysis, staff determined that public outreach was not required for this issue. If the City Council directs staff to develop EV charging fees, outreach to the public, including current users of the charging equipment, would occur prior to the City Council considering any proposed fees.
ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW:
The City has reviewed the proposed activity for compliance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and has determined that the activity is not a “Project” as defined under Section 15378 of the State CEQA Guidelines; therefore, pursuant to Section 15060(c)(3) of the State CEQA Guidelines the activity is not subject to CEQA. Thus, no environmental review is necessary.
LEGAL REVIEW:
The City Attorney has reviewed this report and determined that no additional legal analysis is necessary.