Batavia City Council members plan to reduce the price of charging rates at electric vehicle charging stations within the city.

Council members discussed and agreed upon new EV charging rates and parking regulations during a Sept. 9 Committee of the Whole meeting, which could be approved during the City Council meeting next Monday.

Batavia electric superintendent Steve Allen presented the discussion to council members. Allen recommended reducing the rate to $.25 per kWh for level two chargers and setting $.50 per kWh rate for the incoming level three chargers.

Charging an electric vehicle in Batavia currently costs $.40 per kilawatt-hour (kWh), or about $2.64 per hour, at the city’s level two charging station, which Allen said was much too high by today’s standards.

Batavia has a level two charging station at the Government Center downtown. The city also has level three chargers bring installed at Batavia High School and another location yet to be determined.

Allen suggested implementing a $1 per minute “loitering fee” for vehicles left parked in the stations after they’re finished charging, with a 10-minute grace period.

EV charging is monitored through apps that alert owners once their vehicle is done charging, which is when the grace period would begin.

Alderperson Christopher Solfa said he thought a 10-minute grace period was too aggressive and suggested extending it to between 45 minutes and an hour.

“I think we’ve got to extend [the grace period] up some, because number one, I don’t see a big line that’s going to be forming for these things because there’s multiple. And number two, we don’t charge for parking anywhere else,” Solfa said. “I think that this is just kind of a little bit too aggressive.”

Alderperson Abby Beck said she thought an hour was too long, but was comfortable with 20 to 30 minutes for a grace period.

Alderperson Allen Wolff said the goal of the parking fee shouldn’t be to charge people for parking, but rather to make sure people don’t have to wait.

“I don’t think these are an economic boon, unfortunately,” Allen said. “I just think they’re a great thing for our community to have.”

Council members agreed on new charging rates of $.25 per kWh for the level two chargers and $.50 for the level three chargers. They also agreed on a 30-minute grace period and to charge $1 per minute after that period.

Staff will draft an ordinance to amend city code and set the new charging rates, which is expected to be on the Sept. 15 City Council meeting agenda for possible final approval.

Alderpersons Dustin Pieper and Kevin Malone asked staff to bring back charging data after the new price goes into effect to give council a better understanding of how often the chargers are being used and if the reduced rate affected that usage.