Lisburn and Castlereagh to have ‘cheapest’ council charging point for electric vehicles following vote by councillors

Lagan Valley Island has approved prices for five newly installed EV charge points at its facility.

Elected members agreed a rate of 40p per KWh as a “competitive” price compared to other councils with Belfast charging 48p, and Londonderry and Armagh charging 49p. One of the five EV points will be provided for councillor use only.

Killultagh DUP Councillor Thomas Beckett said: “As an electric vehicle owner myself, I know the cost of charging at home would be 28p per KWh.

“The price we are looking at of 40p per KWh would make us the cheapest council in Northern Ireland.”

Castlereagh East Alliance Alderman, Martin Gregg added: “One point of concern would be the members’ carpark EV charger, if it could also be used by officers and some visitors?

“Being used only by elected members may need to be reviewed as it could be seen as preferential treatment for members.”

The charging App platform is provided by ‘Monta’ which charges the council £6.84 per EV charger per month.

A council officer responded: “The benchmarking for the costs has been done by looking at Lagan Valley Island as a conference centre and to be at a competitive price as a facility for business etc.

“There is a private code for members to use the EV charger in the members’ carpark, there are also four EV chargers for members of the public on site.

“We will now look to identify other locations across the council estate.”