Arlington County's Public EV Charging Rate Rose to 30 Cents per Kilowatt-Hour on November 1
Drivers plugging in at Arlington County's 51 public charging ports now pay 30 cents per kilowatt-hour, up from 17.46 cents, while the county's $3-an-hour dwell fee no longer applies overnight.
Charging an electric vehicle at an Arlington County station got more expensive on Sunday. The county's new charging price at its county-owned stations is 30 cents per kilowatt-hour effective November 1, according to the county's Public EV Charging page, up from the previous base fee of 17.46 cents - an increase of about 72 percent that the County Board approved on October 20. A typical 40-kilowatt-hour session that cost $6.98 now costs $12.
The county's board report ties the new rate to electricity costs: prices under the Virginia Energy Purchasing Governmental Association contract rose 25 percent on October 1, and costs for the accounts serving the county's chargers rose 23 percent, alongside direction to recover the chargers' capital costs. At 30 cents, the county's rate is in line with the government-owned stations in Fairfax County and Prince William County and remains below most commercial charging prices in the region, according to the board report.
One part of the change runs in drivers' favor: the $3-an-hour dwell fee, charged after charging ends, is now assessed only between 7 a.m. and 10 p.m., so overnight dwell fees are eliminated. The fee's 15-minute grace period and $25 maximum are unchanged. Arlington has installed 51 public charging ports to date, all of them Level 2 chargers at county facilities.
