KCP&L’s plans for vehicle charging stations hits a speed bump with cities across the county
Shawnee is among several Johnson County cities that have put the brakes on an offer from Kansas City Power & Light to install electric vehicle charging stations on city-owned properties.
Last week the Shawnee City Council tabled action for a year on an agreement with KCP&L to place 10 electric vehicle charging stations at four city locations.
Overland Park rejected the KCP&L proposal earlier this year and Lenexa and Olathe have determined there are no viable locations for electric charging stations on city property, according to city representatives.
KCP&L is in the process of finalizing the host agreement with Kansas City, said Chris Caisley, vice president of marketing and public affairs.
KCP&L representatives said the goal of the utility’s Clean Charge Network is to install a network of more than 1,000 electric vehicle charging stations across the region, making it the largest electric vehicle charging station installation by an electric utility in the United States. The charging stations would be capable of supporting more than 10,000 electric vehicles.
The Shawnee agreement called for KCP&L to install, maintain and operate electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall, the Civic Centre, the Justice Center and Sister Cities Park.
Under the proposal, the city would have paid the cost of electricity at the stations for the first two years, estimated at $2,000 to $4,000 per year. Following that, private owners would pay for their own electricity.
KCP&L representatives said the company is in the process of establishing a rate structure with the state of Kansas. In the meantime, host locations are required to pay the electricity cost.
The stations installed in Shawnee would be designed for brief charging sessions lasting minutes or a few hours, not overnight, they said.
Several council members objected to having the city paying the electricity cost. They said they favored private businesses partnering with KCP&L rather than the city, saying they would benefit more from the stations than having them installed on city property.
Additionally, electric vehicle charging stations are already planned at several local businesses, including the Shawnee Hy-Vee grocery store and Mill Creek Shopping Center.
“I don’t believe taxpayers should be covering this cost,” Councilman Mickey Sandifer said. “There are companies out there that would spend the money to draw customers into their establishments.”
Councilman Dan Pflumm agreed, saying, “I voted to move this to the council, but I’ve had a change of heart,” he said. “Putting the cost on our citizens is not the best thing at this time.”
Councilman Jeff Vaught said he favored allowing KCP&L to install the stations because city-owned vehicles could eventually be replaced with electric vehicles. “Do we want to be a forward-thinking city or the last ones on the block?” he said. “The reality is we could probably have electric vehicles in our fleet pretty quickly.”
KCP&L has already installed electric charging stations at businesses throughout Johnson County.
Olathe spokesman Tim Danneberg said stations are located at the Hilton Garden Inn on Strang Line Road, at both Wal-Mart locations and Whole Foods. “I understand each site owner is covering (the cost) of electricity for two years,” he said.
Richard Coleman, Leawood’s community development director, said charging stations are located in the garage at Park Place, by Barnes and Noble and AMC Theaters in Town Center Plaza and at the Johnson County Library at Roe and Town Center Drive. A grant from the Nissan company is helping cover the electricity cost of some of those stations.
This story was originally published June 2, 2015 at 5:50 PM with the headline "KCP&L’s plans for vehicle charging stations hits a speed bump with cities across the county."