By Bonnie Culverhouse
Behind the Minden Civic Center is a new charging station for electric-powered vehicles.
“Mayor Gardner set this in motion and got grants to get a vehicle charging station,” said Minden Mayor Nick Cox at Tuesday’s council meeting. Cox was speaking of the late Minden Mayor Terry Gardner. The station will supply service to electric vehicles through city-owned utilities.
“Now it’s up to the council to set the rates for someone charging their vehicle,” Cox said. “The rate is the same as the commercial electric rate (per kilowatt per hour for the first 50 kilowatts per hour) plus power. Cost adjustment rate is multiplied by 5, so the rate will fluctuate monthly.”
A 30-cent idling fee per minute (after a 10-minute grace period after charging is complete) will be added. The idling fee should not exceed $30.
At its most basic, an EV charger pulls an electrical current from either a 240 volt outlet or the grid it’s hardwired to and delivers that electricity to the vehicle, just like any other appliance or device charged by plugging into a wall.
Charging stations are powered by whatever the power grid runs on, which might include oil, coal and natural gas. To ensure a car is powered by renewable energy requires charging stations that are powered by wind or solar.
At Tuesday’s meeting, the Minden City Council voted unanimously, with all members present, to pass into law Ordinance No. 1131 putting the rates into effect.
