St. Mary’s council explores electric vehicle chargers
ST. MARY’S: Optimistic that travellers will soon hit the roads, bringing their tourist dollars with them, councillors for the Municipality of the District of St. Mary’s are investigating a federal program that would help pay for electric vehicle (EV) chargers at key sites in the district.
The program – EV Boost, administered by the Clean Foundation, with funding provided by Natural Resources Canada’s Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program – covers 50 per cent, up to $5,000, per charger.
“They’re hoping to have the installations complete by July,” CAO Marissa Jordon told a recent committee of the whole meeting. She noted that the application from the municipality must be submitted by March 18. “So, it’s a bit of a tight timeline,” she added.
According to the Clean Foundation’s announcement in January, the non-profit organization “will solicit proposals from eligible organizations to install the EV chargers across [Nova Scotia], including in public places, on-street sites, workplaces, multi-unit residential buildings and to support light-duty vehicle fleets.
“Eligible organizations will include electricity or gas utilities, companies, industry and research associations, standards organizations, Indigenous and community groups, academic institutions and provincial, territorial, regional or municipal governments, or their departments or agencies.”
Said Clean Foundation’s Director of Policy and Programs Erin Burbidge: “Building Nova Scotia’s electric vehicle charging infrastructure will help address one of the key barriers to zero emission vehicle adoption. It will also support the province’s climate goal of having electric vehicles account for 30 per cent of vehicles sales by 2030.”
Council discussed possible sites, including the municipal parking lot in Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke Bridge and the Port Bickerton Lighthouse.
Jordan indicated that, while the total per unit costs of the project weren’t yet clear, she had “a potential contractor that’s ready to quote some of that information, so we can get on that right of way.”
Source: therecord
