More electric vehicle charging stations are planned for Fort Myers. City Council is expected to approve a recommendation to negotiate a contract with PositivEnergy of Miami.
Council members reviewed a presentation at their Oct. 27 workshop and are scheduled to vote Nov. 3 on beginning contract negotiations.
PositivEnergy was one of six companies that submitted bids during the summer. Its proposal includes installing 48 charging ports — half of them Level 2 chargers, which provide a full charge in four to six hours, and half DC fast chargers, which can fully charge a vehicle in 45 to 90 minutes. Users would pay 39 cents per kilowatt hour for the slower chargers and 49 cents for the faster ones.
The stations would be placed in high-demand municipal lots and destinations across districts. The network would be sized for 3% adoption, meaning it must handle the additional electricity demand if 3% of all vehicles in Fort Myers are electric. It also would provide EV drivers with real-time guidance to available charging stations.
The proposed contract would last 15 years, with a five-year renewal option. The city would receive 10% of the revenue annually, projected at $147,532 in the first year and $530,485 in the final year.
“To me it was a no-brainer,” Public Works Director Pete Bieniek told council members during the workshop.
PositivEnergy would cover the cost of hardware, installation, electricity and software, with the option to add more chargers as needed. The company estimated that chargers would be in use about 18% of the time.
City Manager Marty Lawing said one option for using the city’s share of revenue would be to place it in the parking fund, although no decision has been made.
According to its website, PositivEnergy has installed charging stations in Los Angeles, Torrance, California; Plano, Texas; Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Philadelphia and Raleigh-Durham International Airport in North Carolina.