As United Illuminating Co. took the first step toward possible installations of electric vehicle charging stations at customer homes and businesses, Northeast Utilities has yet to move ahead with a ballyhooed plan revealed two years ago to do the same at 600 sites ”“ but could do so before long.
The two companies are the dominant utilities in Fairfield County and Connecticut, with New Haven-based United Illuminating”™s local customer base concentrated in the Bridgeport area. Utilities nationally have been wrestling with whether the influx of electric vehicles merits installing charging stations, which help simplify billing, among other benefits; or whether to let other providers do so.
Two years ago, Northeast Utilities revealed it was seeking $700,000 in federal funding to create nearly 600 car charging stations, which NU said would cover half the cost of purchasing and installing the stations at public venues, commercial sites and homes.
Spokesman Al Lara said that funding did not materialize for NU and subsidiary Connecticut Light & Power Co. (CL&P), but that the Hartford-based giant has been testing charging stations at its Berlin operations center ”“ with a corporate-owned Chevy Volt acting as the guinea pig.
Lara did not rule out NU making a major announcement on electric vehicle charging stations at a later date. Testifying in support of electric vehicle infrastructure last month in Hartford, CL&P”™s legislative director Richard Soderman said Connecticut”™s new commissioner of the Department of Environmental Protection Dan Esty is pushing hard for funds from Washington, D.C.
“We”™ve heard ”¦ he”™s going to kind of marshal all of the forces in the state to move forward with getting federal money,” Soderman said. “I think that will probably improve all of our chances to get not only that kind of federal funding, but more generally federal funding for all kinds of programs.”
Others are not standing pat. In Easton, United Illuminating installed its first residential electric vehicle charging station at the home of customer Kevin Porter, using it as a test site to help determine whether to undertake a wider rollout at customer homes. Porter drives a Chevy Volt on a 24-mile commute.
A “green” task force in Westport last year considered adding recharging outlets for 20 electric cars at the Saugatuck rail station on the Metro-North line, which would be powered by solar panels installed on the roof of the station.
And the Hartford Financial Services Group Inc. unveiled a multi-vehicle charging station this month in Hartford, with Gov. Dannel P. Malloy getting a glimpse of the “ceremonial first charge.” The Coulomb Technologies charging stations are managed by the ChargePoint Network run by Florida-based Car Charging Inc., and can be used by employees of The Hartford for free. The Hartford said it would also provide coverage for such stations on homeowners policies it issues.
At present, the lone Fairfield County car charging stations listed on a U.S. Department of Energy website (and linked to Google Maps) are sites at Whole Foods Market Inc. in Darien and at the South Norwalk Train Station. Fairfield-based General Electric Co. has a site listed at a Plainville facility, as well.
In early April, the Connecticut General Assembly pushed ahead on a bill that would establish an electric vehicle infrastructure support account within the state”™s general fund, to provide grants to businesses seeking to upgrade infrastructure to support the use of electric vehicles. The bill would also give lone drivers of such vehicles access to high-occupancy vehicle lanes; and would adjust the state building code to require all new homes and some commercial structures to accommodate charging stations.
