“There are compelling reasons to make a large-scale transition toward zero emission vehicles (ZEVs), including electric vehicles, in Colorado. Transportation is a major contributor to air pollution and one of the two primary sources of ozone precursors, which combine under the influence of sunlight to create harmful ozone pollution…”
— from Gov. Jared Polis’ 2019 Executive Order (B 2019 002) aimed at a large-scale transition to electric vehicles, with a goal of 940,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030.
The Pagosa Springs Town Council heard a story about our electric destiny at their regular meeting on February 4, from ChargePoint representative Rebecca Paruch — a story about how the Town government might get involved in providing a new and improved EV (electric vehicle) charging station in Centennial Park.
Ms. Paruch had brought along a Powerpoint slide show, and one of the first slides showed the new electric vehicles coming on the market in 2020.
To sort of ‘set the stage’… as she phrased it….
“The Colorado Energy Office has a Colorado ALT Fuels program, where they are seeking Electric Vehicle fast-charging stations in 33 locations across the state,” Ms. Paruch explained.
Apparently, Pagosa Springs has been selected as an ideal spot for a grant-funded charging station, no doubt due to its location in the middle of nowhere, along a major east-west highway.
Ms. Paruch:
“The goal is to have all the stations installed by June 30, 2020. So it’s a tight timeline…”
Pagosa Springs has been designated by the ALT Fuels program as a great place for a Tier Two fast-charging station, capable of charging two vehicles at a time. (Tier One stations can charge four vehicles at a time.) The Colorado Energy Office, working with the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT) has earmarked $10.3 million to fund installations at these 33 convenient locations around the state.
“The average installation cost for Tier Two sites is about $300,000. The Colorado Energy Office will contribute up to $250,000, and then they require a 10% match — so somewhere in the neighborhood of $30,000…”
The Town-owned park behind the old (mostly abandoned) County Courthouse — Centennial Park — stretches along the San Juan River, and is home to the Geothermal Greenhouse Partnership’s three “geothermal” greenhouses, a public restroom, and some public parking. Last spring, La Plata Electric Association (LPEA) installed a Level 2 charging station, which is also managed by LPEA, and which currently allows you to charge your electric car for free. (LPEA has plans to begin charging for this service at some point in the near future.)
According to what we heard at the February 4 meeting, it takes one to two hours to charge your vehicle at LPEA’s free charging station — and about 350 vehicles have taken advantage of this service since last May, we were told, most of which were visitors passing through, rather than locally-owned vehicles.
The Level 3 “fast charging stations” can re-charge an EV in about half the time. So, 30 minutes? Maybe 60 minutes?
From the Town Council Packet:
With the Level 3 charger, there needs to be a “site host” with whom ChargePoint will have an operating and installation agreement. In some communities, it has been a local government (e.g. Montezuma County Govt in Cortez). In Durango, the site host is on private property. They strongly encourage a site that will get a lot of traffic and be near downtown, in a walkable area so people can charge while they are shopping or visiting. They want the site to “pass the mom test” — e.g. be safe, well lit, not off the beaten path, and be well maintained. It also should have a restroom nearby. The Centennial Park site by the domes has been selected by LPEA and ChargePoint as the best location…
There is a three phase transformer serving the courthouse at the Centennial Park location and there are restrooms and parking. Although this transformer is not large enough to serve both the courthouse and the EV charger, it could be replaced with a larger transformer. LPEA would only charge the difference in cost between the transformer that is there and the new one. Cost estimates to make that upgrade are pending…
If our municipal government were to serve as a site host for the ChargePoint installation, Ms. Paruch noted, the Town would be responsible for all maintenance at the (unmanned) site — including damage from vandalism. Ms. Paruch also stated that “most stations operate at a loss for the first several years.”
Before we get into the Town Council’s reaction this proposal, we might want to stand back and consider the steep, uphill grade facing the Colorado Energy Office as it imagines our electric destiny — a future of cleaner air and less carbon pollution, perhaps.
Colorado’s state government has some tools available, to try and transform the way we move from place to place. It has the power to make laws, for example. Executive Order B 2019 002 (which you can download here) mentions the ambitious goal of 940,000 EVs on Colorado’s streets and highways by 2030. To put that number into perspective, there are about 1.8 million passenger vehicles currently registered in Colorado, and our families purchase about 200,000 new vehicles per year.
It would appear, from these numbers, that the Colorado government intends to have about half the existing cars and pickups replaced with EVs within the next 10 years. And they have $10 million to install 33 fast-charging stations.
Car dealers in Colorado have a slightly different take on our electric future. Here’s Colorado Auto Dealers Association president Tim Jackson, as quoted last August by reporter Bruce Finley, writing in the Denver Post:
“We’re not against electric vehicles. It’s just that consumers don’t really want to buy them. They want a lower price…
“Let the market do its thing…”
Mr. Jackson made the point that that modern gas-powered vehicles pollute much less than those made in the 1960s. “The problem is old cars that are still on the road.”
Old pickup trucks from the 1960s, still on the road. That’s the real problem.