City wants to move $75,000 to EV Charging Stations at City Hall

NEW BUSINESS F

Andre in Finance added the item but it is joint item between Finance and Electric

But who is really behind this? It must be our liberal, progressive commission.

SUMMARY:
The Electric Utility department is requesting to re-purpose $75,000 originally appropriated to the PBC School Board WiFi project, to fund installation of electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall

BACKGROUND AND JUSTIFICATION: In FY21 the City worked with the PBC School Board to implement a PBC School Board WiFi system to be installed on the City’s Electric Utility poles. The purpose of the PBC WiFi system was to provide WiFi service to school students who did not have access in their home, so that they could participate in remote learning opportunities due to the Corona Virus.

The project was budgeted at $75,000 to allow for the City to install transformers, poles & wires where needed to implement the project. Through careful planning and identifying locations for the WiFi devices in the field, minimal work was required by the City to implement the project. We are currently working with PBC to complete their fiber installation to complete the project.

Because of how the Electric Utility planned and selected the locations of the needed devices, it was able to realize a cost savings by completing some work in-house, rather than by contractor. It also identified locations with existing power, which eliminated another expense. As a result of the cost savings, the Electric Utility is requesting to re-purpose the $75,000 allocated for PBC WiFi project to be used to fund installation of a Level 3 charging station at City Hall.

 🤣 “I think that there’s a lot more to be desired there. [Electric vehicles], while they are great, they are not the main form of transit for millions of people who live in urban or urban-adjacent areas in the United States." Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez