LIHU‘E — After hearing public concerns regarding a bill to “encourage the use” of county-owned charging stations for electric vehicles, Kaua‘i County Council members on Thursday changed language in the bill to no longer offer free charges to electric vehicles
LIHU‘E — After hearing public concerns regarding a bill to “encourage the use” of county-owned charging stations for electric vehicles, Kaua‘i County Council members on Thursday changed language in the bill to no longer offer free charges to electric vehicles for the next six months.
A financial incentive motivates an action which otherwise might not occur without the monetary benefit, according to the online Business Dictionary. But how many local residents would feel motivated to buy a $36,000 electric vehicle because of five charging stations in Lihu‘e offering free charges for six months? And why should taxpayers pay the tab?
Those questions were raised by North Shore resident Carl Imparato.
“The proposed fee waiver is not an incentive, it’s a free gift,” said Imparato, adding that it’s wrong to give away taxpayers’ money for no legitimate purpose.
“There is no reason to give it away, it’s like putting the county’s money in a paper bag and lighting it on fire,” he said.
Imparato’s concerns were echoed by Kapa‘a residents Glenn Mickens and Ken Taylor.
Mickens said he didn’t think the county should be giving free electricity to anyone, and Taylor said it’s “ridiculous” to think that buying consumers a couple hours of electricity would be an incentive to buy a $36,000 car.
“A rebate would be an incentive,” Taylor said.
The council has been toying around with a request from the administration to implement a pilot program which would allow owners of electric vehicles to utilize the five public county-owned charging stations in Lihu‘e until Jan. 1. Until then, the administration plans to collect data that would be useful in the future to manage billing and other issues, including software associated with the charging stations, according to county Energy Coordinator Ben Sullivan.
Following public concerns at two separate meetings — one Thursday and the other June 20 — the council’s Economic Development and Renewable Strategies Committee amended Bill 2436 to charge $2 per hour for electric vehicles plugged into one of the county-owned stations in Lihu‘e.
The stations are not in operation yet; the bill has been approved in committee and still has to pass second and final reading at full council, scheduled for Wednesday.
The bill’s current version also requires the administration to come before the council in six months with long-term solutions.
As of June, there were 25 electric vehicles registered on Kaua‘i, according the state Department of Business, Economic Development and Tourism. Five of those vehicles belong to the County of Kaua‘i, purchased in October through a grant from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Alternative Transportation Program.
Last year, the state passed to the county $276,000 from the ARRA grant. The money was used to purchase five Nissan electric vehicles and 10 charging stations (five for the county and five for the public). But the grant does not pay for the electricity. The charging is billed to the county through a private company, which gets paid a 10 percent processing fee included in the $2 charging fee.
Residents will have another chance to testify on the bill Wednesday at the council meeting beginning at 9 a.m. at the Historic County Building in Lihu‘e.
Visit www.kauai.gov for more information.
•Léo Azambuja, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 252) or lazambuja@ thegardenisland.com.
