New Castle Board OKs Hourly Rates for Car Charging Stations
Chappaqua to consider additional spots depending on popularity – By Kerry Barger
The Town of New Castle’s energy-efficient drivers will have to pay up to plug in at the Chappaqua Metro-North station.
During its Aug. 4 work session, the New Castle Town Board set hourly rates for three parking spots dedicated to drivers looking to charge their electric vehicles. Drivers will pay $2.58 an hour, or a maximum of $10 for 12 hours, to plug in to one of three electric car charging stations at the Chappaqua train station.
The spots, which already have been installed, are located in the first three spots in the “clean pass parking” section of the train station commuter lot. Drivers can pay directly through the charging station, or via the EV Connect app on their smartphones.
At the board’s work session, New Castle Town Supervisor Robert Greenstein deliberated the demand for these specialized ports.
“I’m concerned that we have three charging stations at the train stations, and the cars have to be charged,” Greenstein said. “Honestly, I fear that, and we’ll play it by ear, I think that we may see those three spots not being used some days, because of the fact that we have some electric cars, but they may not have to be charged, they’re not going to want to pay for it, so they’re not going to park there and nobody’s going to be using those spots.”
New Castle Town Administrator Jill Shapiro said the town would closely monitor activity at the charging stations to determine if additional spots are necessary. Motorists without electric cars can also park at the ports after 9:30 a.m.
“We certainly have enough Teslas and electric cars parking at the train station,” Shapiro said.
Shapiro told The Examiner News that the town submitted a request to New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) for the installation of additional spots at the train station and also in the downtown commercial lots in Chappaqua’s business district. The board will keep tabs on the current spots until Dec. 31 to decide whether or not they are needed.
New Castle joins a growing number of Westchester municipalities adding electric car charging ports to local train stations and parking garages. The City of White Plains is home to 20 stations, while the Town of Bedford installed 10 of these specials spots in 2013. The MTA plans to add six charging stations to the parking garage at its building at the North White Plains Metro-North station.
