Just under 985 kilowatt hours were registered on the Town of Altona's electric vehicle charging station in the first six months since it was installed.

According to a report submitted to council, 38 users plugged into the free service during that span for a total of 84 hours and 39 minutes. That adds up to just under $1 per minute, at a cost of $83.72 incurred by the Town.

"After installing this charging station, we decided to let users charge their vehicle for free, an initiative used in many cities and municipalities. Our intent with providing no initial cost was to encourage good environmental stewardship, a key priority highlighted in the Town's strategic plan," explained Mayor Harv Schroeder. "We stated in our initial press release that this service would remain free and be re-evaluated as-needed."

That review has taken place and as a result, Council has decided to start charging users. That change will take effect following the Manitoba Sunflower Festival at the end of July, nearly a year since the charging station was installed.

"So, people in the community definitely know that it's there. People that come from far away, it probably still is not a big cost to them to plug it in for an hour or two or three. But there has been a few key charging amounts that are being used and we felt like for those, it probably make sense that we start charging so we just put it across the board then," said Schroeder.

According to the report, there were two larger charges registered at the station in the first six months. One at $21.80 and the second at $43.96.

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