Lambton County will explore the merits of adding new electric vehicle (EV) chargers.
Sarnia Mayor Mike Bradley's motion to initiate a staff taskforce to bring together all parties interested in discussing the need for charging stations was passed during Wednesday's Lambton County Council meeting.
Bradley said the county has made some sporadic efforts in the past, but he said that was before some massive investments in EVs made over the past six months.
"I think that we just need to be prepared for this, otherwise we will be left behind with what's happening in the next few years."
In 2018, the county installed 13 charging stations, including two at the administration building and some at long-term care centres. County Treasurer Larry Palarchio said it came at a capital cost of approximately $160,000 -- federal funding of roughly $105,000 brought the county's net cost to approximately $55,000.
Palarchio said the usage has been relatively low and that COVID-19 has had a lot to do with that.
"Basically, we had approximately $4,000 in rough figures as far as revenue that we've collected at our charging stations [and] about 1,300 connections during that time period alone."
Palarchio said it's not all about financials and that sometimes you can't quantify the environmental benefit of these initiatives.
Councillor Mike Stark said the infrastructure necessary to support the EV industry is something the county should be supporting.
"The reality is that this is coming, the industry is changing, the transportation network is changing, and we can do the studies that we all think are appropriate -- the fact is, the industry is changing."
Stark said Canada and Ontario have put forward a tremendous amount of financial support for the EV industry in Windsor and Ottawa. He also pointed to the growth of Tesla since 2018.
Councillor Margaret Bird voted against the motion. She said we do not have the necessary infrastructure in place, that already high electricity costs will increase, and that the environmental impacts are also of huge concern with greater greenhouse gas emissions during battery production.
"Right now, in my opinion, governments should be promoting an alternative source of power, absolutely, but the one that can not only be produced on demand but that doesn't threaten life on our planet."
St. Clair Township Mayor Steve Arnold raised concerns about the electrical grid not being updated fast enough to support the demand of EVs. He also said he doesn't see any road tax being gathered from EVs.
Bradley responded saying the motion is about establishing a taskforce.
"I checked with the [Sarnia-Lambton] Research Park, I checked with the county, I checked with the city and I checked with others saying 'would you be interested in sitting down to talk about a strategy?' Nothing more. No commitments."
Warwick Mayor Jackie Rombouts and Plympton-Wyoming Mayor Lonny Napper expressed the importance of rural communities having charging stations to ensure people making long trips are able to charge their vehicles along the way.
Councillor Brian White said it's an important part of public infrastructure going forward. White agreed with Palarchio about COVID-19 having an impact on the usage of local charging stations.
"You could imagine two extra connections per month for the last two years, but because I wasn't able to come to the [administration] building, I couldn't plug in. So, you can compensate for that in your numbers."
