Free electric vehicle charging at Westminster’s city-owned stations comes to an end Thursday, with drivers now facing a $1.50 session fee, a $0.35 per kilowatt-hour charge, and a $2 hourly idle fee that kicks in 10 minutes after a vehicle reaches full charge. The city owns three EV charging stations affected by the change: one at City Hall, one at the Downtown Parking Garage at 8855 Eaton Street, and one at 5850 Central Avenue.
The shift was first reported by The Denver Gazette, which noted that Westminster officials did not respond to an email and phone message seeking comment on why the city made the change. The city had previously promoted up to four hours of free charging across multiple public sites, according to the City of Westminster, which lists roughly 35 charging stations within city limits overall, including the Westminster Station Parking Garage at 6995 Grove Street.
Reaction on Instagram was largely negative toward the new fees and the loss of free downtown charging, per the Gazette’s reporting. The Eaton Street garage is more than just a charging stop — the city runs an electric vehicle car-share service there in partnership with Colorado Carshare, housing shared rental EVs on the garage’s first floor as part of a broader multi-modal parking hub downtown.
How Westminster’s New Fees Stack Up Against Adams County
Westminster isn’t the first Front Range government to end free charging, but its new rates land well above what drivers pay just next door. Neighboring Adams County ended 12 years of free public EV charging at stations across seven locations in August, instituting a $0.15 per kilowatt-hour rate and a $0.25 per minute idle fee after a one-hour grace period, as Hoodline previously reported. Westminster’s combined $0.35/kWh rate plus its $1.50 session fee is more than double that residential-adjacent benchmark, while its $2-per-hour idle fee is lower than Adams County’s $15-per-hour equivalent…