Serving Whitman County since 1877
Serving Whitman County since 1877
The city of Palouse may be the next town for an electric charger as part of an Avista program to study energy use for electric and hybrid cars.
“The city is putting in an application for a level-II charge site,” said Paul Kimmell, Avista's regional business manager.
The cost-share pilot program offers installation of 120 electric-vehicle charging stations at homes and 80 public locations and businesses in Washington over two years.
“It will enable Avista to study how managed charging can smooth out the ups and downs of customers' electricity use on our system and improve efficiencies,” said Kimmell.
The charging stations are at what is called AC Level II, which charge two to five times faster than a standard 110 VAC outlet. In Palouse, it would be installed at Heritage Park, next to McLeod's Palouse Market.
The charging stations are owned and maintained by Avista, which reimburses up to $2,000 per port connection for installation.
Palouse Mayor Michael Echanove contacted Kimmell earlier this year to ask about the program.
“It didn't surprise me,” said Kimmell. “I was hoping and expecting Palouse would be interested,”
Avista is also in conversations with Colfax for a potential charger.
Construction began last week in Rosalia for a charger at the old Texaco station. Another will be installed this fall at the WSU visitor center at Spring and Main Street in Pullman.
In June, Avista announced a plan to install 272 electric vehicle charging port connections in approximately 200 locations in the Washington service area.
Earlier, the Washington State Transportation and Utility Commission approved a $3 million pilot program for Avista to install charging infrastructure for electric vehicles (EVs) at residential and commercial customer locations.
The program also includes seven high-power DC fast chargers to enable regional electric vehicle travel.
Garth Meyer is a former Whitman County Gazette reporter.
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