The Town of Drayton Valley is working to bring electric vehicle charging stations to the community.
The Town is one of the partners in EVenture Northwest AB. The project aims to establish a network of 22 Electric Vehicle Fast Chargers across Alberta’s northwest. Other communities involved in the project are Edson, Whitecourt, Hinton, and Rocky Mountain House.
Under the plan, a third party company will assume the ownership and operation of the charging stations. The station will be installed on municipal land. This will be at no cost to the Town. All they have to do is donate the land to place the charging stations on.
EVenture has been seeking $3 million for the project, and a new revenue stream had just opened up. Natural Resource Canada (NRCAN) has a program called the Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program (ZEVIP) that will cover 50 per cent of the costs.
The issue before Drayton Valley town council at their June 29, 2022 meeting was where to put the charging stations. In order to complete the ZEVIP application, the Town needed to guarantee a location.
Administration narrowed it down to two potential locations: the parking lot near Downtown Park, and the Elanor Pick-Up Arts Centre. The final location would be selected once the project gets the greenlight, and a technical analysis of the sites is conducted.
Administration elaborated that the charging stations would not be taking over the entire parking lots. The stations would just be located in a couple of parking stalls.
Councillor Tom McGee wanted to ensure the funding for the project. With this ZEVIP program covering half of the costs, McGee was curious as to who would cover the other half.
According to administration, the other half would be covered by the third party that installs and operates the charging stations. Some prospective partners include EPCOR, Fortis, and Tesla.
Councillor Amila Gammina pointed out, there are already some charging stations in Drayton Valley, and wanted to know how well used they are.
Administration responded that the existing chargers are underutilized. However, the existing chargers take up to eight hours to charge a vehicle. The chargers that would be installed in this project are rapid chargers, which can charge a vehicle in one or two hours.
Mayor Nancy Dodds wanted to know how much it costs to operate these charging stations.
Administration said they could be looking at a power bill of $2000/month. They then emphasized that the goal of this project is to have zero cost to the municipality. If a partner cannot be found, it will be up to the municipality to decide if they want to proceed and take on those costs themselves.
Council voted to approve the application, and thus guarantee a location.
Comments