Joliet reviewing demand for EV charging stations

A Joliet City Council committee recently held off on approving more city-operated electric vehicle charging stations.

The city is in line for a $117,000 state grant to fund the installation of three EV charging stations at the Old Joliet Prison and three more at the Broadway Greenway park.

But the Public Service Committee last week asked staff to come back with information on what it would cost the city to maintain the new stations and whether stations installed last year by the city are getting much use.

Staff is expected to report back to the committee when it meets again on Monday.

The city with some fanfare in August installed an electric charging station with two ports at the Ottawa Street parking deck downtown with money provided through a federal grant.

Public Service Committee Chairman Larry Hug, who last year objected to the city getting into the business of charging up electric vehicles, said he wanted to know how much the parking deck chargers were getting used and what they cost the city in maintenance before voting on whether to add six more portals.

Council member Cesar Guerrero, another member of the committee, voted last year to accept the grant for the Ottawa Street parking deck chargers. But Guerrero, too, said he was interested in use and maintenance costs.

“There are existing charging stations in the city of Joliet,” Guerrero said at the committee meeting on April 1. “Do we have any data on the usage of that system?”

Hug said he had seen estimates that the number of Joliet residents with electric vehicles was less than 1%.

“We need to know what the real demand is,” he said.

The state grant that would pay for the installation of the six proposed charging stations appears aimed at traveling motorists expected in 2026 during the 100th anniversary year for historic Route 66. The Broadway Greenway park on Route 53 sits along the old Route 66. The Old Joliet Prison, the former Joliet Correction Center, is off the historic highway but is a favorite stopping point for Route 66 travelers coming through the city.

The city of Joliet in August, when announcing the charging stations at the Ottawa Street deck, pointed to numbers that showed small but growing use of electric vehicles.

The number of electric vehicles owners in Joliet in 2021 was 222, up from 25 in 2018. In Will County, electric vehicle owners numbered 3,800, up from 410 in 2018.

The electric vehicle market, while a fast-growing segment of automotive sales, has been tempered by vehicle costs and recharging challenges. The Level 2 charging ports installed at the Ottawa Street deck have the capacity to fully charge a vehicle over the course of 2.5 to five hours.