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Drivers who have been charging their electric vehicles free on Laraway Road will soon pay for the electricity.
Winchester will begin charging 35 cents per kilowatt-hour at the public charging stations on Laraway Road and at Winchester High School on or shortly after Monday, Nov. 2, Sustainability Director Ken Pruitt said in an Oct. 26 announcement.
Payment will run through the AmpUp app, which drivers already need to use the stations. Pruitt wrote the fee will cover the town’s costs for electricity, operation and maintenance.
The town also plans to charge an idle fee for vehicles that stay connected after they finish charging, once a short grace period ends. Pruitt wrote the idle fee is meant to encourage turnover so more drivers can charge when they need to. Its amount and start date remain under review.
“In the meantime, please be courteous and monitor your state of charge and unplug and move your vehicle as soon as charging is complete,” Pruitt wrote.
The fee itself was expected. Winchester News reported Oct. 6 that the town was preparing to charge about 35 cents per kilowatt-hour at the dual-port Laraway Road charger, which Pruitt said had stayed free because payment software had been too expensive.
The new announcement sets the rate, adds the high school and gives a start window.
Where drivers can charge
Plug-ins are far more common in Winchester than statewide.
According to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’s Vehicle Census, 1,538 of the 16,478 passenger-use, light-duty vehicles garaged in Winchester on July 1, or 9.3%, were battery-electric vehicles or plug-in hybrids. Statewide, 163,274 of 4,900,751 comparable vehicles, or 3.3%, were plug-ins.
Winchester had 254 plug-ins in January 2020. The census counts registered vehicles, not sales or charging demand.
Public charging is more limited. As of the Oct. 6 report, the town listed six public ports in service. The two at Winchester High School are restricted to teachers during school hours and open to the public evenings, weekends and summers.
The two fast chargers the town lists in the Jenks Center lot on Skillings Road already cost 49 cents per kilowatt-hour and are not covered by the announcement. FLO operates them and keeps the revenue, Winchester News reported in June 2025.
Pruitt previously said fast chargers make owning an electric vehicle more feasible for residents who cannot charge at home, such as those in condos or many apartment buildings.
Lynch Elementary School’s eight charging plugs were inactive as of Oct. 6 pending financial authorization between the town and the charging company Electric Avenue, Pruitt said then. The announcement did not mention them.
At the new rate, 40 kilowatt-hours of electricity would cost $14, compared with $19.60 at the Jenks Center’s 49-cent rate. Those are illustrative electricity charges, not full session bills.
The per-kilowatt-hour fee will take effect on or shortly after Nov. 2. The idle fee’s amount and timing have not been announced. Pruitt asked drivers with questions to email him at kpruitt@winchester.us or call 781-265-9730.
Will Dowd is a Massachusetts journalist who covers municipal government and community life for Winchester News. He is also the founder and editor of The Marblehead Independent, a reader-funded digital newsroom.
