Glasgow EPB to install two electric vehicle charging stations at South Central Kentucky Cultural Center

By MICHAEL CRIMMINS
Glasgow News 1

Two electric vehicle chargers are set to be installed in the parking lot of the South Central Kentucky Cultural Center off West Main Street, according to Aaron Russell, communication director at the Glasgow Electric Plant Board.

According to Russell, the initiative to install the chargers began “just over a year ago.”

“It’s a collaboration effort between us, TVA (Tennessee Valley Authority) and the city of Glasgow,” Russell said. “It started when Mayor Armstrong was still in office and we’ve been going through the process of getting equipment and the land figured out.”

Russell said the location of the chargers needed to be on publicly owned property. That is why they will be at the cultural center. Originally, however, Russell said, they had planned to either place them near the parkway or in the parking lot behind City Hall, across from the Plaza Theatre.

“Ultimately, due to how tight that parking lot is, it was decided to move it to the Cultural Center,” Russell said.

Russell said they already have the lines and hook ups in place for the stations, courtesy of M&L Electrical, a construction company located in Bowling Green, but now they are waiting on the chargers.

One reason for the delay, Russell said, was the increase in demand across the United States for electric vehicles and all that comes with them. According to the U. S. Bureau of Labor Statistics the market for electric vehicles has rapidly increased and is expected to continue to climb in the coming decade.

“Electric car sales in the United States increased from a mere 0.2 percent of total car sales in 2011 to 4.6 percent in 2021,” the report states. “S&P Global Mobility forecasts electric vehicle sales in the United States could reach 40 percent of total passenger car sales by 2030, and more optimistic projections foresee electric vehicle sales surpassing 50 percent by 2030.”

Russell said, barring any further delay from ChargePoint, the vendor supplying the charging stations, the current estimated timeline has them being completed in the next 60 days.

Russell said he hopes this will be the first step to putting more publicly owned electric vehicle charging stations around the city.

“This is definitely the first step in trying to get more stations across town,” Russell said. “We understand and encourage that this is the way of the future. That’s definitely the mindset from the TVA and we agree with that. This is the first step in seeing what it’ll take to get more of these and we hope they are used a lot by the community.”