By Bonnie Culverhouse
Minden City Council is taking a second look at charging for charging at its one and only charging station for electric-powered vehicles.
In use since January 2023, the station behind Minden Civic Center supplies service through city-owned utilities.
“The rate is the same as the commercial electric rate (per kilowatt per hour for the first 50 kilowatts per hour) plus power,” Mayor Nick Cox said. “Cost adjustment rate is multiplied by 5, so the rate will fluctuate monthly.”
Cox said when the rate was first set, the decision was made to multiply it by 5, but the rate could have been set anywhere between 1 and 10.
“The feedback I’ve gotten from folks who have an electric car is that apparently we are on some list that lists Minden as one of the highest and slowest electric charging stations,” he said. “I don’t think that’s a very good sales pitch, and I don’t think we’ve given the electric charging station a very good start.”
According to Cox, the station has generated roughly $1,000 in the 18 months since it has been online.
“The ins and outs are being tracked – how much it costs us, how much it generates in revenue,” he added. “I propose we set that at 2 times instead of 5 times and just see if our sales go up. If we start losing money, then let’s stop, drop and roll and fix that.”
The mayor said he hopes that by dropping the price, sales will rise and the charging station will “do better.”
Public Works Director Tyler Wallace said some stations charge by the hour. A 30-cent idling fee per minute (after a 10-minute grace period once 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.