Columbus Light and Water and Starkville Utilities Department have received the last leg of funding they need to install new electric vehicle fast-charging stations.
The Mississippi Department of Environmental Quality announced Wednesday it was giving both CLW and SUD both $48,060 for the installation of two charging stations in their respective downtowns. The addition of the new chargers will bring Columbus to three total and Starkville to six.
“We know that electric vehicles are becoming more prevalent and more common, even in our small hometown,” CLW Manager Angela Verdell said. “This is just one of the ways to make sure that electrification can become more of a reality. We would love it if more people had electric vehicles; we know that it’s good for the environment.”
The funding from MDEQ was made possible by the state’s Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Program. MDEQ is awarding $7,331,408 to 22 government and non-government entities, including 12 school districts, for eligible projects using funds allocated to Mississippi from the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust. The trust was established as a result of a settlement agreement between Volkswagen and the U.S. government in 2017 regarding excess emissions of nitrogen oxides from diesel vehicles the company was underreporting.
“The goal of the mitigation projects is the reduction of diesel emissions, specifically nitrogen oxide pollutants, which have been linked to increased ozone levels and air contaminants,” MDEQ Executive Director Chris Wells said in a press release issued Wednesday afternoon. “This money was intended to have local impact, and we are glad to have a part in getting these funds into our communities in hopes of creating a healthier Mississippi.”
Starkville Utilities Manager Edward Kemp told The Dispatch the new charging stations will only take 20 to 40 minutes to fully charge an electric vehicle, which is much faster than the four stations already installed in Starkville.
“Those (charging stations) take a few hours to charge get to a full charge, but these can charge much quicker,” Kemp said.
CLW and SUD received $196,240 in 2021 from a Tennessee Valley Authority grant. Those grants will pay 80 percent of the cost to install the chargers, while the MDEQ funding will provide the remaining 20 percent.
Kemp said now that SUD has the funds to complete the project, it will focus on the procurement of the stations, but there is not yet a definite date set for installation.
“I’m not sure what the lead time on those is,” he said. “I know that there’s a high demand for those, not only in the southeast TVA region but also across the country. So we’ll be working on that.”
Verdell said CLW plans to install its stations within the next year.
MDEQ is also providing the Lowndes County School District with $217,428 to purchase four diesel school buses.
LCSD Superintendent Sam Allison was contacted by The Dispatch for comment, but he did not respond by press time.
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