SOPEC Receives $4.2 Million for EV Charging Stations
NEW CONCORD, OH – The Southeast Ohio Public Energy Council recently received $4.2 Million in government funding to build EV charging stations.
The funding came from a program called the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program that was created by the The Federal Highway Administration and U.S. Department of Transportation.
Dana Vingris, the Director of Grants and Development with SOPEC, said the goal of this program is to help support the transition to EV’s for passenger and fleet vehicles.
“SOPEC, on behalf of its member communities, and other communities that are through Southwest and Southeast Ohio, put together a larger infrastructure project that’s starting with Dayton and Athens as the hubs and several, smaller Southeastern communities that are connecting communities including New Concord along I-70,” Vingris said. “Which is an alternative fuel corridor , so there’s an intentional investment along those roadways to build out the infrastructure.”
Vingris said their plan is to build 8 charging stations in total, with two going in the New Concord area. She said the chargers that will go in New Concord will be equipped to do both level 2 and level 3 level charging, with level 3 being the fastest charge.
Vingris said New Concord was chosen because of the traffic I-70 brings through the area.
“[I-70] passes through the New Concord Area and that has been because of its national exposure and distance, a priority area for federal infrastructure investment and state infrastructure investment,” Vingris said. “So our project was really trying to build on top of that larger scale, national priority in order to facilitate people passing through on 70, also freight traffic as well is being supported on 70 and also local, the local community, giving them resources.”
Vingris said the sites where the EV charging stations will go first need to undergo formal environmental assessment before the work can begin.
The hope is to begin work on the sites after January 1st.
