Revelstoke is on its way to a sustainable energy efficient future.
On Thursday workers from Canyon Industrial Electrical Services started work on installing Revelstoke’s second public electric vehicle charging station in the City parking lot on 1st Street East between Orton Avenue and McArthur.
“We’ve been working on this for awhile, and we are very excited about it,” said Director of Economic Development Nicole Fricot. ”I think that this is one of those projects where the immediate result may not be very clear, but it is really about the long term ability of the City to attract people and give them access to a electric vehicle charging station.”
The City says that construction will take about four working days.
A portion of the lot will be closed from Monday April 9 to Thursday April 12.
Council approved the location of the electric vehicle charging station on October 10.
On May 23 of last year, Accelerate Kootenays presented to City Council and requested they approve the charging station. Their representative said that the charging station would support the development of a network of charging stations across the Kootenays.
Accelerate Kootenays goal is to build a electric transportation network throughout the region.
They have over $1.5 million of funding and are supported by the Columbia Basin Trust, the Federation of Canadian Municipalities, the provincial government, Fortis BC, BC Hydro and Powertech Labs.
City staff had reviewed a number of potential sites for the charging station which included the community centre, but ultimately decided on the City lot.
The installation is expected to cost over $17,000, with Accelerate Kootenays contributing $7,000.
The cost to the City will be about $10,000.
There is currently one other public and universal electric vehicle charging station located at the Revelstoke Visitor’s Centre.
There are currently a number of Tesla charging stations located at the Best Western, but those are not universal and will not work with any electric vehicle, just those manufactured by Tesla.
Fricot said the installation is really about the City’s future.
“This is about planning for the future of Revelstoke,” said Fricot.
@Jnsherman
jake.sherman@revelstokereview.com
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