Should the city of Lake Oswego build more EV charging stations?

The Lake Oswego City Council is mulling the extent to which it wants to build electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the community.

In 2020, the local government adopted a Sustainability and Climate Action Plan, which included a goal to spearhead the electrification of transportation infrastructure. During the City Council meeting Tuesday, June 4, city sustainability program manager Amanda Watson brought forward possible opportunities to accelerate EV adoption.

The city is outperforming the state at large at this pursuit. According to 2023 data, 7.7% of light-duty vehicles in town are electric compared to 2% statewide. Further, the city has recently experienced about 30% annual growth in ownership for vehicles that are better for the environment than gas-powered alternatives.

The 2020 action plan set a goal of electric vehicles making up 60% of new car sales by 2040. Watson said that a lack of access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure is still a barrier for some Lake Oswego residents, particularly those who live in multifamily housing complexes.

“An equitable approach to meeting Lake Oswego’s EV adoption goals will address gaps in access to charging to ensure that everyone has EV charging options that meet their needs. While at-home charging is the most popular, not everyone has the ability to charge their vehicle at their place of residence,” the city staff report reads. “In particular, residents of multifamily housing and renters are less likely to have access to convenient, low-cost residential EV charging.”

Watson added that the city could develop a list of all multifamily buildings in town and find out whether they have electric vehicle charging.

The staff report also said that commuters and visitors confront difficulties with charging their vehicles due to the lack of stations in certain areas in town. Watson cited Mountain Park and Foothills as examples of areas bereft of charging stations.

Watson said the city will need to invest in public charging stations to meet the needs of residents who don’t have access to stations at home. One of staff’s recommendations was to install more charging stations at city facilities including parks. Watson stated that the city could create criteria to identify the best locations. Putting in a level 2 charging station, which the staff report said is common for residential, workplace and public stations, would cost about $19,000 per unit.

Mayor Joe Buck said the city should consider targeted investments in areas where charging infrastructure is more scarce and where multifamily housing is more prevalent to have the greatest positive impact.

Councilor John Wendland, however, said he supported educating residents and the development community about EVs and providing incentives for the private industry to build EV infrastructure.

“I’m not supportive of adding a bunch of charging stations at city facilities. I don’t want to be in the business of paying for chargers and maintaining them,” he said, adding that the city has many other priorities and only so much money to spend.

The city has public electric vehicle charging stations at City Hall and its maintenance center on Pilkington Road.

Ways the city could foster electric vehicle infrastructure proliferation through regulations would be to require developers to build parking spaces for electric vehicle charging, explore incentives like electrical permit fee reductions for property owners to build charging stations and create a program where businesses could install stations curbside, among other concepts. The latter point could involve collaboration with PGE to install utility pole-mounted chargers or “electric avenues” where stations are clustered.

Councilor Ali Afghan said widespread EV infrastructure and adoption was inevitable.

“It’s a matter of ‘Do we want to enable it?’ ‘Do we want to help our residents sooner than when the private sector is going to make this happen?’” he said.

At a future meeting, the City Council will provide clearer direction to city staff on how it wants to proceed with its plan for electric vehicle growth.