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The charging station is the town’s reward for its performance in the Neighbor to Neighbor Energy Challenge, a state pilot program that challenged 14 municipalities to reduce their energy usage. The station will be purchased and installed using a nearly $10,500 grant the town received from Connecticut Light & Power.
“We see this as evidence of our town’s commitment to clean energy and energy conservation,” Wilton Energy Commission Chairman Bruce Hampson.
The charging station will feature two charging cables, which means it will be able to accommodate two vehicles at the same time, Hampson said. It will be installed in the side parking lot at Comstock and will be available for use by all, free of charge.
The unit will be the second electric vehicle charging station in town, joining the unit installed last summer at the Wilton Library. Town officials felt the community center was an ideal location for the second charging station.
“The community center is visited by a large number of residents during the week,” Hampson said. “Also, when folks go to the community center, they’re there for an hour or two, so it made sense to us.”
Before settling on Comstock, Hampson said town officials considered installing the unit at Town Hall or the train station. However, not many people visit Town Hall, and when they do, it isn’t for long periods of time, he said. The train station was also ruled out because there, it was felt someone would plug in in the morning and occupy the space until they came home in the evening.
No official installation date has been set, but Hampson said the charging station is expected to be up and running by the end of the year.
Currently, there are six electric vehicles registered in Wilton. However, Hampson said he and other officials expect that number to rise once the Comstock charging station is installed.
“One of the reasons people are not buying electric cars is because they wonder where they’d be able to charge their vehicle,” he said. “With two electric car dealerships in town, we see the addition of a second charging station as an enabler, giving people a reason to consider purchasing a vehicle that doesn’t pollute.”
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