A proposed rise in prices to use Orkney council’s electric vehicle chargers has been accepted by councillors this week.
After a honeymoon period where charging your EV in Orkney was free, it started costing money in 2019.
And now, the time has come for a price increase.
Councillors approved the hike – but the move sparked a discussion about whether the council should be subsidising EV drivers at all.
What’s it going to cost?
The price hike would include rapid charging going from 25p per kWh up to 38p, with the minimum charge rising from £2 to £3.
Fast charging would also rise from 20p per kWh to 30p, with the minimum charge rising from £1 to 1.50.
These changes would come into effect from the beginning of November. The council says it will need the extra income to continue to manage and maintain the chargers.
Orkney council manages a number of charging points across Mainland Orkney.
These were installed using funding provided by the Scottish Government and their agencies.
However, the income from fees does not cover the cost of managing and maintaining these chargers.
Initially, using the chargers was free, with the Scottish Government footing the bill.
This came to an end in 2019, with fees introduced.
Do EV drivers really need help?
Recovering the cost of managing and maintaining the chargers, would mean fees “far in excess of the cost of domestic electricity” councillors were told.
Council officers spoke to the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum (OREF) to make sure the council’s charging network remains attractive to users without the burden on the council becoming “excessive.”
However, some councillors on the Development and Infrastructure committee, which met yesterday, took issue with the council encouraging the use of electric vehicles in Orkney.
Lindsay Hall said: “The majority of vehicle users in Orkney don’t have access to electric vehicles, neither do they have the possibility of refueling those vehicles at home, nor do they receive some sort of subsidy to refuel them.
“I wonder why we feel obliged to subsidise people who use electric vehicles.”
Later in the meeting he asked: “Why do we need to provide anything at all for vehicle users of any kind?
“We don’t own any petrol stations. We don’t provide anything for the majority of people in Orkney.”
Mr Hall wasn’t the only councillor to speak out against the use of EVs.
The Greens say ‘it’s political’
However, green councillor Kris Leask responded, to these points.
He said: “We’ve discussed this from a very economic, zero-sum position but there is a reality that it’s a political choice.
“It’s a policy decision that we seek to support the growth of low-carbon travel, of electric vehicles.
“We seek to continue to do that and build on the huge success we’ve had already, shown by our leadership across the UK in terms of use of EV’s per head of population.
“It’s quite right that we continue to do so.
“How aggressively we want to pursue that is something we can discuss at the next EV strategy refresh.”
The committee’s decision will now go to full council to be ratified.
Earlier this month, we investigated whether north drivers could soon be plugging into lampposts to charge their EVs.
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