St. Paul May Require EV Charging Capability in New Parking Lots

The St. Paul City Council began discussion Wednesday of an ordinance that would require newly constructed surface parking lots to include electric vehicle (EV) charging capability. Because chargers in parking ramps fall under the purview of the state building code, the ordinance would apply only to surface parking lots. The ordinance would not apply to repaving of existing parking lots.

In a presentation to the council, Department of Planning and Economic Development staff member Bill Dermody explained that the ordinance would apply to parking lots with 16 or more spaces and would mandate that 80% of spaces be “EV capable,” or have an electrical conduit and space on an electrical panel. Additionally, parking lots with more than 30 spaces would be required to be “EV ready,” meaning that in addition to the conduit and electrical panel space the wiring would also be in place. The ordinance would not require developers to provide an actual EV charger.

Although only 7.6% of US vehicle sales were electric vehicles in 2023, EVs are projected to comprise 50% of vehicle sales by 2030. St. Paul city officials have set a goal for 33% of vehicles on city streets to be electric by 2030. This goal increases to 80% by 2040 and 100% by 2050, and would help decrease the estimated 33% of greenhouse gas emissions in the city that are attributed to transportation.

Currently, electric vehicle chargers are rare in St. Paul. There are a few privately owned chargers, and the city maintains 23 chargers in downtown parking ramps and in parking lots at libraries and parks.

While most people who own electric vehicles charge their vehicles at home, 44% of housing units in St. Paul are in multifamily buildings. In addition, the city plans to add 11,000 new multifamily units by 2040. By requiring EV charging capabilities in all new parking lots now, the city aims to ensure that future multifamily residents will have a place to charge their electric vehicles.

Some council members questioned whether EV charging capability was necessary in nonresidential parking lots. Dermody explained that the Planning Commission made that recommendation due to the dramatically higher cost of retrofitting existing parking lots with EV charging capability as compared to including EV capability in new construction. Because it can cost up to ten times as much to add EV charging capability to existing parking lots, residents of older multi-unit buildings will likely need to charge their EVs away from home.

Minneapolis, St. Louis Park, Bloomington, and Roseville already have EV charger requirements. St. Paul’s ordinance would differ from the requirements in these cities in that it would mandate only EV capability rather than requiring developers to provide an actual charger. While it costs approximately $600 per parking space to provide EV capability, an EV charger costs about $5,000 per space.

A hearing on the ordinance will be held next Wednesday, April 3 at 3:30 PM at City Hall.