Christopher Margetts

My ref: 101003286971 Date: 14 July 2017

Sent by email: [email protected]

Dear Mr Margetts

Your request under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Thank you for your information access request which we received on 24 June 2017.

Please find enclosed the Council’s response to your request.

We hope that this fully satisfies your enquiry, but should you require further information at any time please feel free to submit a new request.

Cornwall Council is committed to open and transparent government and provides information to members of the public about all aspects of the authority.

We deal with over 4000 requests for information each year. We estimate that the cost to Cornwall Council of dealing with each request ranges between £150 and £350 to administer. You may be able to find the information by checking previous responses using www.cornwall.gov.uk/default.aspx?page=24586 or checking the Council’s website at www.cornwall.gov.uk.

Most of the information that we provide in response to Freedom of Information requests will be subject to copyright protection. In most cases the copyright will be owned by Cornwall Council. The copyright in other information may be owned by another person or organisation, as indicated in the information itself.

Konsel Kernow Cornwall Council, County Hall Truro, TR1 3AY Tel: 0300 1234 100 www.cornwall.gov.uk

You are free to use any information supplied for your own use, including for non- commercial research purposes. The information may also be used for the purposes of news reporting.

If you are not happy about the outcome of your response, you have the right to request an Internal Review. This must be done within 40 working days of the receipt of your response.

If you wish to complain about the outcome of your request, please write to:

Freedom of Information Complaints Cornwall Council Room 4S County Hall Truro TR1 3AY

Email: [email protected]

If this does not resolve the matter to your satisfaction, you have the right to apply directly to the Information Commissioner, the contact details of whom are:

FOI/EIR Complaints Resolution Information Commissioner's Office Wycliffe House Water Lane Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF Email: [email protected]

Yours sincerely Dhywgh hwi yn hwir

Economic Growth Service / Gonis Tevyans Erbysek Economic Growth and Development / Tevyans ha Displegyans Erbysek [email protected]

Konsel Kernow Cornwall Council, County Hall Truro, TR1 3AY Tel: 0300 1234 100 www.cornwall.gov.uk

Reference Number: IAR-101003286971

Response provided under: Freedom of Information Act 2000

Request and Response:

“Since becoming a unitary council in 2009, Cornwall Council has built on the work of the former district and county councils and, under the Green Cornwall programme, has developed and implemented a range of innovative and ground breaking projects designed to make the most of Cornwall’s natural resources for the benefit of residents, communities and the local economy. These include ……. the implementation of a comprehensive electric car charging network.” “The vision for Cornwall’s Energy Future …… identifies ambitious targets for 2030 which are designed to ensure that residents, communities and the local economy all benefit from the low carbon energy transition” including “Increasing the proportion of Cornwall’s energy ‘spend’ that is retained within the local economy to 30%”. ref. www.cornwall.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/council-news-room/media- releases/news-from-2017/news-from-january-2017/cornwall-council-sets-new-ambitions- for-cornwall-s-energy-future/

It has been over 12 months since CCC installed Superfast EV charge points (SEVCP’s) throughout Cornwall.

In order to understand how the SEVCP’s and Fast chargers have benefitted the residents, communities and the local economy I should like to enquire about their usage over the past 12 months (or the most recent 12 month period that has been accounted/reported - whichever is the most convenient for you to provide). If it is not possible to separate the use of SEVCP’s from the whole of CCC’s electric car charging network then please provide the answers to the questions below in respect to the whole of CCC’s electric car charging network (i.e. both SEVCP’s and Fast chargers).

Please advise (for the 12 month period) separately for SEVCP’s and Fast chargers (FC’s):

1. How much of the spend on energy, provided by SEVCP’s/FC’s, is retained within the local economy? I assume this is zero because SSE is responsible for charge pricing.

Due to the novation of Cornwall Council’s (CC) network operation relationship with SSE over to ChargePoint Services in August 2016, the data management system required to capture the data to answer this question have only been in place from August 2016.

Cornwall Council is provided data with respect to kWh consumption on the network and does not have access to the data on the connection fees taken by ChargePoint Services, however:

 Circa 9% of the spend on power consumed through the Cornwall Council- ChargePoint Services network was returned to Cornwall Council and hence could be considered to re-entered the Cornish economy. This estimate is based on the kWh consumption by all chargepoints and recharge payments paid to Cornwall Council by ChargePoint Services for the 6 months between August 2016 and January 2017;

 The connection fees are considered to relate primarily to covering the cost of connecting to/ operating the network back office and support services (e.g. 24/7 call centre, servicing and maintenance) and hence it is debateable as to whether they should be considered as ‘energy spend’.

2. Are any of the SEVCP’s/FC’s used by CCC EV fleet?

Yes.

If yes, how much does CCC pay to per connection and then per unit of electricity used?

There are two EV pool cars and two EV pool vans on trial. After the fleet charge point piloting period was completed Cornwall Council fleet EVs have paid the standard ChargePoint Services Genie network fees for using the charge points.

The rates for fleet, staff and public are currently as follows: Superfast/rapid charge points: £1.00 connection fee, 30p per kWh used Fast charge points: 50p connection fee, 30 per kWh used

If these CCC fees differ from the fees advertised on the ChargePointGenie website do any CCC staff get provided with the benefit of CCC reduced fees for personal use? For information: ChargePointGenie website pricing shows: Connection fee £1.00 Cost per kW hour £0.30p. www.chargepointservices.co.uk/drivers/geniepoint- pricing/

Cornwall Council staff do not receive any reductions in the ChargePoint Services Genie fees for personal use.

The fees for Cornwall Council do not differ from the fees advertised (listed above), they are as per the standard national ChargePoint Services Genie network rates.

2a. How many Connections have CCC fleet made to SEVCP’s/FC’s?

Due to the novation of Cornwall Council’s relationship with SSE to ChargePoint Services in August 2016, the systems to capture this info have only been able to record the data required to answer this question from August 2016.

Prior to this point the fleet charge points were in pilot and testing mode. During the pilot and charge point testing period the power was supplied under Cornwall Council’s standard building contract and the pilot vehicles were not charged for usage of the charge points by SSE. At this time there was no billing from SSE to Cornwall Council for the use of the charge points as a substantial amount of charge point testing and debugging was being conducted by the CC/CORMAC fleet vehicles.

After the pilot and testing phase, during the 10 month standard operating period between start August 2016 and the latest available data on fleet use (end June 2017) CC/CORMAC fleet users have connected to the network 225 times.

2b. How many kW hours have CCC purchased when using the SEVCP’s/FC’s?

During the same 10 month period (referred to in the response to 2a) CC fleet has consumed 2910.72 kWh.

3a. How many connections have been made to SEVCP’s/FC’s? (excluding CCC fleet)

During 2016 (latest data year) there were 2,306 total connections to the network.

Excluding the CC/CORMAC fleet usage of 270 connections (across a period which includes some of the CC/CORMAC fleet pilot as well as the standard operating period) total public and staff usage of the network is estimated to be 2,036 connections.

3b. How many kW hours have been purchased when using the SEVCP’s/FC’s? (excluding CCC fleet)

During 2016 (latest data year) total power consumption across the network was 24,424 kWh.

Excluding fleet usage of 2,629 kWh (during the CC fleet pilot period and standard operating period) total public and staff usage of the network consumed 21,795 kWh.

4. If you are unable to answer any question because the management of the SEVCP’s is performed by ChargePointGenie please advise how CCC will be able to show that it is “Increasing the proportion of Cornwall’s energy ‘spend’ that is retained within the local economy to 30%”.

This is of course a contradiction in policies since increasing the use of CCC’s “comprehensive electric car charging network” results in increasing the proportion of Cornwall’s energy ‘spend’ that is made outside the local economy i.e. to SSE.

In terms of the charge point network’s contribution to Cornwall Council’s ‘energy future 2030 outcomes’ aspiration to see 30% of energy spend retained in the Cornish economy. Cornwall Council receives recharge payments from ChargePoint Services for any power consumed in charge points it hosts on Council land.

This money is reallocated to the CC facilities sub-budget assigned to each property that hosts CC charge points and hence is available to:

 Contribute to the up keep of the properties on which the charge points are hosted (i.e. CORMAC Services for caretaking/ cleaning), and/or;  Offset the cost of the host buildings’ total power consumption (which is purchased from a range of energy suppliers, including the Kernow Solar Park, depending on the power supply contract to that building).

The deployment of charge points of public, staff and fleet usage is intended to support Cornwall Council’s ‘energy future’ aspiration to ‘promote cleaner transport’ through providing publicly accessible charge points for onward travel as well as in car parks and at CC offices.

As such rather than being specifically targeted at promoting an increase in local energy spend the primary aim of deploying publicly accessible charge points is to address range anxiety and hence promote a reduction in fossil fuel consumption through the electrification of transport via increased public uptake of EVs. In terms of EV uptake and reduced petrol/diesel consumption it is expected that total public consumption of power for charging EVs in in Cornwall (including home based charging) will be greater than 108,975 kWh* in 2016. This has contributed to a small but notable reduction in fossil fuel consumption by road transport which in 2014 was estimated by Government as 3,568.1 GWh (latest data available).

*NB. This figure is based on research that suggests that the majority of EV charging (c80%) is expected to be done at residents’ homes.

5. Are there any plans to promote the use of CCC’s “comprehensive electric car charging network” ?

Cornwall Council produced press releases and several articles were published when the network was launched in 2015. The most recent coverage was a Cornwall Council and ChargePoint Services supported multi-page electric vehicle supplement/feature in the Devon and Cornwall media papers (i.e. West Briton and Cornishman) in May 2017 which included a full double page map detailing the locations of the Cornwall Council-Genie charge points.

Cornwall Council does not have access to a marketing budget for the further promotion of EV charge points in Cornwall. Rather marketing of the charge point network is the responsibility of the network operator (ChargePoint Services). However, as and when additional charge points are installed there will be further press releases and other marketing activities.

6. Are there any plans to change the fee structure for both SEVCP’s and Fast chargers? I ask this because the current fees make the use of petrol cars cheaper to use per mile than using an EV. #

# With reference to question 6 the following may be of interest. Leicester City Council EV Chargers Join the GeniePoint Network… These chargers will be available with the following tariff: £0.50p connection fee & £0.15p per kilowatt hour charged.

In terms of changes to fee structure: Whilst Cornwall Council has advocated a reduction in the connection charge we understand that ChargePoint Services has no current plans to amend the charging structure in Cornwall which follows their national pricing strategy.

ChargePoint Services have however made some recent changes to pricing. As a result of Cornwall Council and customer input they have removed the overstay fees on fast chargers across the majority of their national network.

In terms of the cost comparison with petrol cars: Public charging facilities are intended to provide a supplementary charging solution for EV drivers when they are unable to charge at home. As the current fees are broadly comparable to the cost per mile of a conventional car, when drivers are using the network for supplementary charging, savings are likely to be made by the majority of EV users who do most of their charging at home.

Cost for charging on public charging facilities are higher than costs of home based charging because the substantial costs of maintaining public access charge points and the 24/7 call centre support. These costs n do not need to be priced into the costs of charging at home.

In terms of the question regarding pricing by Leicester City Council: after a conversation with ChargePoint Services they have indicated that rather than the private sector funding 25% of the costs of the charge points in Leicester the full cost was met by the City Council.

It is Cornwall Council’s understanding that Leicester City Council appears to have paid the full capital cost of the charging units and are now paying ChargePoint Services a fee to operate the charge points on their behalf. As such Leicester City Council are subsidising the charging facilities directly themselves and hence they are able to set their own pricing structure.

Cornwall Council is not in the budgetary position to subsidise charging for the public in Cornwall. As such the match funding, operation and maintenance costs for the charge point network in Cornwall were/are met by the private sector rather than the Council.

The Cornwall Council EV funding model is based on the network installation and operation having had no capital or revenue cost to Cornwall Council/ Cornish taxpayers.

7. What was the overall contribution, including any Central Govt. grants, made by CCC for the implementation of the SEVCP’s/FC’s?

The total public contribution for the deployment of the Cornwall Council charge points network including grants from the Department of Transport is £765k (75% of the total deployment cost).

8. How much does CCC pay for the maintenance of the SEVCP’s/FC’s?

Cornwall Council does not pay the maintenance costs for the charge point network. All maintenance costs for the network are paid by ChargePoint Services who operate the Genie network and take the revenue from the network.

Response provided by: Economic Growth Service

Date of response: 14 July 2017