New EV charges come into effect

Updated charges are due to come into force this week (1 November) for local drivers using the Council’s Electric Vehicle charging infrastructure in the county.

Orkney now has council-owned EV infrastructure across Kirkwall, St Margaret’s Hope, Dounby, Finstown, Burray, Orphir and Stromness.
When chargers were first installed their use was free, with the Scottish Government covering the costs. However, charges have now been levied since May 2019.

The new fee structure has been developed following significant consultation with the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum, striking a balance between ensuring that the network remains attractive to users and ensuring that this does not place an excessive financial burden on the Council.

The new structure will see user charged at 38p per kWh with a minimum charge of £3.00 and a maximum stay on 1 hour on rapid chargers. There will be a penalty of £1 a minute for overstaying.

Fast chargers will see a price of 30p per kWh with a minimum charge of £1.50, a maximum stay of 4 hours and a penalty for overstaying between the hours of 08:00 and 18:00.

There will be no penalty charge for overstaying between the hours of 18:00 and 08:00.

Lorna Richardson is the Council’s Interim Head of Neighbourhood Services.  She said “The connection between the Council and the members of the Orkney Renewable Energy Forum has been really valuable in putting together the new fee structure. A key objective for them was to ensure a mechanism by which people could use the Council’s charging infrastructure overnight without being charged an excess – and we’ve managed to achieve that.”

David Dawson is Chair of the Council’s Development and Infrastructure Committee.  He said: “ For a small island community we have a remarkable charging network for EVs and that success has been borne out as we see more and more people switching to an electric vehicle when they change their car.  The Council were pleased to support the new fee structure, which has been put together with thought to the overall needs of the end user.”

Although the charging points were purchased and installed with grant funding from the Scottish Government, the ongoing cost of providing and maintaining the network is £33,859, against an income of £25,048 meaning that the service is provided at a direct cost to the Council.

Read the committee report which detailed the new charges.