Photo: James Rojas/WBZ NewsRadio
SOMERVILLE, Mass. (WBZ NewsRadio) — Somerville is joining neighboring communities in charging fees to use electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.
City officials say starting Monday, July 1, a fee of $0.25 per kilowatt-hour will be implemented at all City-owned stations.
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The program is called Charge4Charge, and according to Christine Blais, Director of the Mayor's Office of Sustainability and Environment, the fees are needed to keep Somerville's public charging network functional.
"We’re looking at options and ways to help improve revenue streams so that we can help to expand and preserve the network that we have now," Blais told WBZ NewsRadio Tuesday.
In a press release, the City says the program also aims to "incentivize space turn over" and "reduce misuse and vandalism of stations."
"Use them more effectively and leave the stations when they’re done with charging," Blais said.
"[If] any part of this station was damaged, we’d have to replace the whole machine, and that can take five to six months and cost thousands of dollars," said Sustainability Planner Josh Eckart-Lee.
Not everyone is ready for the gear shift, though. Somerville resident Emily was considering getting an electric car, but now the fees have her thinking twice.
"Having the free charging was a huge incentive for me to get the electric car," Emily said.
Boston, Cambridge, Arlington, and Medford are among the other municipalities charging fees at EV stations.
WBZ's James Rojas (@JamesRojasMMJ) reports.
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