By Rocky Mountain Voice Editorial Board
The issue: Some local governments are moving to user fees for electric vehicle charging stations.
We say: This is the correct call. Taxpayers may appropriately invest in the infrastructure, but should not bear the burden of supplying free electricity to the minority of motorists.
The free ride on the backs of the taxpayer is over in one Western Slope community.
Grand Junction city officials correctly decided last week to end free access to electric vehicle charging at city-owned stations, and rather to implement a fee structure.
It is worth commending City Manager Greg Caton for bringing this matter to a head.
“There shouldn’t be an expectation of free charging provided by your local government,” he told the City Council.
The city made the infrastructure investment in electric vehicle charging stations, and the fair expectation is owners of the private vehicles be asked to pay for the electricity, much like metered parking, he said.
We’d all love free electricity. It would be a blast. You could lower your household thermostat in the summer and raise it in the winter. Who cares? You’re not paying for it. Someone is, but not you.
What expectations should you have of your local government, and at what point does a policy of “take from all and give to some” lean into socialism? That’s a tough, but fair question. It is appropriate for taxpayers to make infrastructure investments in such facilities as a recreation center or a senior center, and then to have an expectation of user fees. The taxpayer funded the facility, the user funds maintenance and operation.
This is precisely the point of governments charging for access to taxpayer-funded electric vehicle charging. The taxpayer invested in the infrastructure. The user must now invest in the convenience.
In Grand Junction, the adopted fees include a connection charge of up to $2, a maximum kilowatt-hour fee of 55 cents, and an “overstay” fee of up to 20 cents per minute outside of a 15-minute grace period.
That does not sound unreasonable to anyone operating a gas-powered vehicle in Mesa County, where Monday the average for a single gallon of regular gasoline was $2.79.
Interestingly, though, Grand Junction is an Xcel Energy community. City Manager Greg Caton estimates only 42% of the electricity powering the community is clean energy.
“The majority of the power is coming from coal,” said City Councilman Cody Kennedy.
And to his point, someone wishing to burn the cleanest fuel would adapt to a natural gas-powered car, not coal-powered electric.
This editorial is the viewpoint of the Rocky Mountain Voice editorial board.