DALTON, Mass. — The town is a step closer to having two electric vehicle charging stations at the Community Recreation Association. There are two EV ports per station.  

 

The committee submitted a signed contract to the state so the town is ready to have work begin this month, Green Committee member Antonio Pagliarulo said a recent meeting. 

 

The engineer will visit the CRA to explore how to extract power from the upcoming station location. The station is expected to be completed in six months. 

 

During a town meeting in May, the town allocated $42,000 to fund the Green Committee's request for two charging stations. 

 

The project was delayed for two months due to paperwork requirements for the state Department of Environmental Protection, however this turned out to be a blessing in disguise. 

 

The town originally had planned a level 2 station with a 7.2 kilowatt system but the Green Committee was able to upgrade it to a 19.6kW system at no additional cost, Pagliarulo said. 

 

This upgrade more than doubles the speed of charging, but charging times vary based on vehicle type and weather conditions, he said.

 

There was no additional cost to the town since it will be reimbursed 100 percent — 80 percent from the DEP and 20 percent from Eversource. 

 

The two stations will cost $37,500 but the town will be getting a reimbursement of $24,200 for these chargers, Pagliarulo said. 

 

The reimbursement and remaining funds of approximately $5,500 from the town meeting vote will go toward adding stations at Pine Grove Park, though additional funds will be needed to cover that cost.

 

The Select Board was asked to consider two level 2 chargers with four ports for Pine Grove Park earlier this year; however the Green Committee is now considering proposing level 3 chargers, Pagliarulo said. 

 

Although there are not many electric vehicles in town currently, by 2035 it will be state law that dealerships will only be able to sell electric vehicles, Pagliarulo said. 

 

"In just over 10 years time, that's the law. It's going to happen and they're projecting Massachusetts will have hundreds of thousands of EVs within five years. It's going that way," he said. 

 

"... It's not a cheap proposition. But that's the direction in which this state and several states are going towards. So, I'd rather be ahead of the curve in terms of Dalton being ready to deal with EVs, especially given the number of rentals we have in Dalton."

 

Part of the reason the committee is exploring level 3 is because of the decreased time it takes to charge the car and there are funding incentives available to help cover the cost, Pagliarulo said. 

 

The committees will be researching how to address demand charges associated with the level 3 charging stations.