Electric circuit: charging station prices could rise sharply

Owners of electric cars may soon have to pay more to use Electric Circuit’s public charging stations.

The Hydro-Québec company, responsible for managing the network of some 3,500 charging stations in the province, has just adopted a new tariff structure which will henceforth make it possible to modify charging fees, twice a year, both upwards than downwards.

At owners discretion

Thus, as of today, the 1^er June, the owners (municipalities, businesses, hotels, etc.) of some 2,800 level 2 terminals (standard or 7 kW) in Quebec will be able to charge up to $3 per hour (taxes included), for a session charge, or a flat rate of $10, regardless of the duration of the charge.

Hydro-Quebec denies opening the door to a rate increase. This decision to raise or not the rates will belong, she insists, to her “partners”, public or private owners of three quarters of the charging stations in the province.

“The rate may increase in some cases, decrease in others, and even become free for partners who wish to offer this service, which could not be done before,” explains its spokesperson, Jonathan Côté.

Charging rates had remained unchanged since 2016. Its hourly rate had so far been $1 per hour (taxes included), while its flat rate was capped at $2.50.

Multiplied by three or even four

We are therefore talking, with the new structure, of a possibility of tripling the current hourly rate and of a flat rate that could become four times higher than at present.

By way of comparison, in Ontario, the hourly rate is currently $2 (taxes included) and the flat rate is $4.

Never mind, Hydro-Québec argues that such a rate change had become necessary to ensure the sustainability of the network and increase the number of charging stations.

Reviewed twice a year

From now on, the standard terminals will be able to see their prices changed twice a year, on a fixed date, the 1^er june and 1^er december.

In accordance with the regulation adopted by Quebec, the charging rates for fast terminals (24 to more than 100 kW) are indexed once a year, at the start of the year.

The last indexing dates from last February.