Santa Ana will enter into a five-year, $251,783 agreement with Voltaic Systems to purchase, install and maintain 10 electric vehicle charging stations, as well as process payments, sometime in the spring.

The City Council on Tuesday, Feb. 6, unanimously — with Mayor Miguel Pulido recusing himself — endorsed the deal, in an effort to support clean energy.

The stations, which will be distributed through six city facilities, can charge two vehicles at a time at a cost of 25 cents per kilowatt hour for the first four hours and $2 for each additional hour.

The fees are not meant to generate revenue for the city, said Francisco Gutierrez, executive director of the city’s finance and management services agency.

“If you wanted to generate revenue, we’d probably have to increase our fee,” he said. “We’re just trying to recoup some of our utility costs.”

The rates are relatively low compared to those of other cities, said City Manager Raul Godinez, who owns an electric vehicle.

Grants from the Air Quality Management District will fund the project.

All but four stations to be located at City Hall will be open to the public. The primary users there will be public employees driving government-owned electric vehicles, said Councilwoman Michelle Martinez.

She asked city staff to bring back a report on how many Santa Ana residents own electric vehicles.

“We want to make sure that those who are driving from outside coming in to our city, that they’re doing it in the most efficient, cleanest way possible, but at the same time what are we doing to encourage our own residents,” she said. “The majority of folks that are driving are low-income folks and they’re driving cars from the 1970s and 1980s.”

Stations will be installed at: