New electric vehicle charging stations for Houston and Burns Lake are one step closer thanks to a $192,000 grant from the Northern Development Initiative trust.
Chargers for both communities would be part of a 47-charger network dubbed Charge North stretching from the south Cariboo to Prince George and west along Hwy16, including Haida Gwaii.
These would be Level II chargers, requiring a plug-in period of anywhere from two to four hours.
As such they’re meant to be an inducement not only for electric vehicle drivers to travel to the region but, because of the charging time, are considered a boost to local economies as owners would then spend time and hopefully money in the communities.
Houston and Burns Lake have each committed to one charger station each, allocating $5,000 per station.
“We’re pleased that Northern Development has continued to support the sustainable economic development of northern communities,” said Houston mayor Shane Brienen.
“This funding commitment will ensure that rural communities like ours are able to support a shift to greener forms of transportation, reduce our community’s impact on the environment, and help us meet our greenhouse gas emission targets in our Official Community Plan.”
In Burns Lake, council has also committed itself to host a BC Hydro Level III charger, one that can power up an electric vehicle in half an hour, but is awaiting to hear if the crown corporation has been successful in getting a provincial grant, said Village of Burns Lake chief administrative officer Sheryl Worthing.
Janice Keyes from the Vancouver-based Community Energy Association which has the contract to assemble the Charge North network, welcomed the Northern Development Initiative Trust grant, saying it is a major step toward finding all the money needed.
The $192,000, together with the local government commitments, is sufficient to purchase all the chargers and cover one-third of the installation cost, she said.
“This is definitely good news for the project,” said Keyes of the NDIT grant.
“With the grant we have enough to buy all of the charging stations and to install one-third of them.”
“NDIT has, however, put a condition on their grant and that is to provide the money at such time that we have all the financing in place for all of the installation costs.”
That additional financing would come from the provincial CleanBC program and Keyes is hoping Charge North will receive word soon that its application is successful.
Included in the entire purchase and installation budget are administrative costs undertaken by the Community Energy Association to manage the Charge North project.
Charge North’s 47 planned Level II chargers would be installed in 26 communities.
