Councilors In Westfield Approve A State Funding For Nine Electric Vehicle Chargers In A Split Vote
Finance Committee member Richard Sullivan Jr. requested Westfield Gas & Electric earn $380,521 from the Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Plan. Sullivan mentioned that WG&E General Manager Thomas Flaherty had discussed the donation with the committee.
Nine Electric Vehicle Chargers Will Be Funded By The state In A Split Vote Among The Westfield Councilors
The announcement indicates that WG & E is going to contribute around $143,000, they have to establish nine electric vehicle charging stations within five years according to the contract.
Westfield’s City Council voted on this topic a few weeks ago to accept a contract for vehicle charging stations at Westfield after discussing all-electric vehicle requirements.
According to Sullivan, Flaherty had a conversation with the committee regarding the financing.
At least 143,000 dollars coming from WG & E will go toward the installation, maintenance, and upgrading of software for nine electric vehicle charging stations and the signing of a five-year contract for the service.
According to WG&E General Manager Tom Flaherty, the company submitted 16 distinct grant applications totaling $50,000 to establish 16 additional electric vehicle charging stations.
Around 30 percent of American automobiles will be plug-in hybrids or hybrids, or they can be turned into fully electric by the year 2024, so we must prepare ahead and have the skills here so the citizens don’t have to face any difficulties at that time.” Westfield Gas and Electric’s General Manager, Tom Flaherty, Sr.
According to General Manager Tom Flaherty, WG&E submitted 16 different grant applications, totaling $50 thousand dollars to establish sixteen additional electric vehicle charging stations for electric cars.
“There aren’t many charging locations coming off the road or off of I91 while driving from Springfield to Lee,” Flaherty mentioned.
The charging stations in Westfield are currently paid which is according to Flaherty. He also explained that they have done it as a chargeable service to prevent individuals from exploiting the free charging stations.
If the funding is awarded, a charging station will be built at each Westfield school which is stated by Flaherty. He also added that one would be installed at the WG&E offices, three at Westfield Airport, and also three stations should be stabilized in city parking lots.
He also noted that in some areas in Eastern Massachusetts, where the use of electric vehicles is higher than the other areas, those areas have a slightly different structure and we need to establish more electric stations in those areas so it becomes easy for people to charge their cars. They offer lower overnight prices for vehicle charging ports, Flaherty mentioned.
A few of the already available ports which are established in Westfield are described as level three ports, meaning they can provide more voltage and those ports can charge vehicles faster than other ports but the 16 grants WG&E are requesting for a series of level two charger ports.
The voltage built by the level two chargers ports is much lower than that of level three chargers ports. It will take at least a few hours to fully charge your electric vehicle’s battery if you start charging it while the battery is empty. And no one waits for that long, as mentioned by Flaherty.
Flaherty is putting the deal to establish level two ports because it’ll save Westfield Gas and Electric money. According to Flaherty, the money he requested from the government for this project is more than enough if we establish level two ports in Westfield.
