Dear Editor,
Gasoline is a volatile liquid that quickly becomes extremely dangerous if it is handled improperly. By law it must be dispensed under strictly controlled conditions subject to strict environmental regulations. Electrical vehicle charging stations are plugs. We all have them in our homes. Any qualified electrician can install a plug pretty much anywhere you would like it. Provided it meets Code. I think any similarity between gas stations and electric vehicle charging stations begins and ends with they can both provide something to make a vehicle go.
The electric vehicle charging station debate is a tricky one. If you think municipalities are struggling with what’s the right thing to do, call a local condominium corporation and ask how they’re handling the problem for their ‘community’ parking lots.
Both Mr. Bill Cameron and yourself clearly staked out your beliefs. They are both positions based on sound principles. A “municipalities need to stick to their own knitting” position. I wonder though, since neither yourself, nor Mr. Cameron, appear to be in line to suffer the consequences that logically follow from your positions, whether they might change if you did?
Electric vehicle charging stations are a debate with precedents we can learn from. Recall way back to the late 1990s/early 2000s. Restaurants, bars, even libraries and shopping malls were questioning whether they should provide WIFI to their customers. If they needed to. And if so, could they charge them for their WIFI usage? Should they limit it? I once stopped for a coffee at a Starbucks and was handed a slip of paper. To grant me 10 minutes of free WIFI access (Customers/In Store Only) simply for being stupid enough to pay $3.50 for a cup of coffee. You would have thought they were handing me the combination to their safe. (I gave it to the guy on a laptop in the corner. He looked like he was writing a novel. Or finishing his thesis.)
Many businesses resisted. And soon came to realize just how many of their former customers seemed to be frequenting the place right next door. The one with the sign out front saying “Free WIFI”.
Very few places question whether they should offer free WIFI anymore. How are the patrons supposed to waste their pay cheques on online gambling if the sports bar doesn’t have free and reliable WIFI? Or check to see if Home Depot has the exact same thing cheaper than the Canadian Tire store that you’re standing in does? WIFI has almost evolved to the point people think of it as a basic human right. Customers want it everywhere. And they sure as heck don’t expect to be asked to pay for it.
I don’t think we’re that far from a point in time when people will regard vehicle charging stations the same way.
Businesses haven’t been able to dictate to customers how they’ll receive their services for years (cable TV, cellphone, and internet providers excepted. Unfortunately.) The customers have choices. They know it, and they can go somewhere else for the exact same things if it means they get the customer experience they prefer. To the point, Mr. Editor, that if Meaford agrees with you and Mr. Cameron, Meaford restaurants, bars, grocery and convenience stores, and the downtown shops better get used to lots of conversations that go something like this:
Her: We need to charge the car. Let’s find somewhere to plug in where we can grab lunch, pick up a few groceries, maybe hit the LCBO quickly, and if we still have time, I want to check out the shops while it finishes charging.
Him: OK. So, Thornbury? Or Owen Sound? Forget Meaford. The charging stations are always full. For some reason they never have enough of them. And they charge you to use them! In 2025! They charge you to plug in your car!
Her: OK. Thornbury.
If we collectively decide to not put our local merchants at a permanent competitive disadvantage, I think we should show some innovation in solving the problem. Two or three centrally located solar panels might service vehicle chargers at key locations in town. If they also sell unused power to the electrical grid, they might cover some of the cost of those chargers. Imagine if they could provide our valued visitors with a positive customer service experience while turning a very modest profit at the same time?
Why wouldn’t we want to find out what is possible? And maybe make a decision based on the facts?
It is at least worth investigating and should not be ruled out without proper research first. To do otherwise would be shortsighted and irresponsible.
Bruce Mason, Meaford
