http://eagletimes.villagesoup.com/p/ev-go-charging-station-receives-warm-welcome-in-springfield/1428731
EV-GO charging station receives warm welcome in Springfield
By CAMERON PAQUETTE | Oct 16, 2015
Photo by: Cameron Paquette. A formal ribbon cutting was held Thursday in Springfield for the electric vehicle charging station that was installed in August. (From left to right) Julie Corliss, branch manager for Claremont Savings Bank in Springfield; Caitlin Christiana, director of the Springfield Chamber of Commerce; Sherwood Moody, president and CEO of Claremont Savings Bank; Nobbi Jarvis, electrical manager for HB Energy; Bryan Hernon, sales installation service manager for HB Energy; Carol Lighthall, executive director of Springfield on the Move; Noelle MacKay, commissioner of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development and Springfield Selectboard member Walter Martone.
SPRINGFIELD — Representatives of the Town of Springfield, Springfield on the Move and local businesses joined residents and representatives from Green Mountain Power for the official ribbon cutting of the town’s new electric vehicle charging station Thursday.
“[It’s] another star for Springfield,” said Springfield Selectboard member Walter Martone.
The project grant application was submitted to the State Agency of Commerce and Community Development in March 2014 by Springfield on the Move, and was completed on Aug. 27. The project was fueled by a $27,000 project grant and $12,000 in matching funds from the town. The project was done in joint effort with the Southern Windsor County Regional Planning Commission in cooperation with Green Mountain Power and HB Energy.
“This project started with a grant application in March 2014 and was supposed to be implemented in August last year,” said Springfield on the Move Executive Director Carol Lighthall. “We had a bank change ownership. We had a town manager change in the process, but we’re here today and that’s the important part.”
Construction of the charging station was also slowed by boundary line issue with Claremont Savings Bank, which owned a portion of the parking lot on which the station has been constructed. This was resolved when the town agreed to give full control of the disputed area to the bank. The town is leasing the two spots used for the charging station.
The charging station is equipped with a standard connector designed to service all electric vehicles with up to 240 volts per charge, and is what is known as a Level 2 station.
“We’re helping Vermont achieve Vermont’s electric vehicle goals,” said Jenn Cortez, director of compensation and benefits for Green Mountain Power.
According to Cortez, the state is aiming to have 25 percent of registered vehicles in the state run off electricity by 2025. In July 2012, there were 88 electric vehicles on the road, which grew to 1,000 in 2015.
“We’ve had a huge increase in just three years,” said Cortez.
One of those electric vehicles belongs to Springfield resident and Lovejoy Tool employee Harriette Sherwood, who showed up to the ribbon cutting to charge her electric Smart Car.
“I’ve been a big fan of smart cars since they first came out. When I found out they had an electric version, I was instantly [thinking] that’s what I’ve gotta have,” said Sherwood. “All my neighbors call me a granola.”
Harriette’s Smart Car averages approximately 90 miles per charge, and although she said she probably wouldn’t use “All my neighbors call me a granola.”
Although Harriette said she likely wouldn’t use the charging station due to its proximity to her home, she did say it would be good for electric vehicle drivers passing through to stop, charge up and check out the downtown.
“Doing this shows that small things add up and make our downtowns stronger,” said Noelle MacKay, commissioner of the Agency of Commerce and Community Development.
Recent, pertinent article in the WSJ detailing what a sham electric vehicles are.
ReplyDeletehttp://on.wsj.com/1ljlkPj
Key points being: "Electric cars’ enlistment in the climate wars makes little sense either: Two-thirds of America’s electricity is produced by burning fossil fuels, and U.S. passenger cars account for less than 2% of global emissions anyway. Converting them to electricity solves nothing."
and,
"That especially means not talking about what’s really on its mind. GM CEO Mary Barra played the game during 2014’s congressional Cobalt hearings when she declined to acknowledge the troubled, money-losing small car was built by GM only to meet federal fuel-economy mandates."
How much taxpayer money was pissed away on the charging station no one uses? Springfield has certainly reinvented itself from the Precision Valley to the Ignorant Liberal Valley.