Batavia is one step closer to getting two new electric vehicle charging stations in the fall, following a recent vote by the City Council approving a contract for the project.

The proposed sites are the parking lot on Shumway Avenue near Flinn Street, and the south parking lot at Batavia High School, according to a memo about the contract included in Monday’s meeting agenda.

The city is getting $320,000 in grant funding from the state of Illinois for the project, according to the memo. The total cost is estimated at just under $600,000, which was slightly over the city’s budget, but the city said the Electric Division expects the difference to be covered by savings from other budgeted items.

This local project is occurring as President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” is set to cut some clean energy initiatives, like a tax credit for rooftop residential solar that the Biden administration had extended, and tax credits for clean vehicles.

As it stands right now, however, most Batavia residents don’t have electrified vehicles, according to a citywide survey of residents conducted this year, the results of which were presented to the City Council on July 7 at a special Committee of the Whole meeting to discuss the city’s electric utility planning.

Of just under 800 respondents, 10.6% said they currently own or lease electrified vehicles, and more than half of respondents said they don’t intend to buy one, according to a memo about the survey results. Just over half of respondents indicated they wouldn’t pay more money for an electric vehicle.

The city ultimately received six bids for the charging station project, per the memo, but only five were deemed responsible. The city is going with M3 Electrical Contractors, Inc., which is based out of Bartlett. The contract was passed Monday as part of the meeting’s consent agenda.

Each site is set to have two chargers and a minimum of four ports, according to documents for the bidding process included with the meeting agenda.

The contractor will be responsible for designing, procuring and installing the EV chargers, and doing the lighting, signage and pavement striping, according to the city’s memo about the contract.

The day-to-day operations will be handled by the city, though the contractor is to provide maintenance and repairs for a period of five years.

The project is set to start this month with engineering drawings, and the high school parking lot site is set to be prioritized so it’s in place before the school year begins, according to the memo. The entire project is scheduled to be completed in September.

The Associated Press contributed.

mmorrow@chicagotribune.com