Special to the Journal
If you are searching for places to charge your electric vehicles you can now add both the Danvers and Lynn campuses of North Shore Community College to your list. The college, with help from grant funding, installed electric vehicle charging stations to help promote environmental sustainability.
This project was funded by grants awarded by the MA Department of Environmental Protection’s Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program (EVIP) and National Grid. NSCC is also contributing its own funds to fill in the gaps.
“This is work the college has been interested in and exploring for some time,” said Dr. William Heineman, NSCC President. “It is part of our strategic plan to be a good environmental citizen and we know the demand for EV charging stations is expected to rise exponentially over the next 10-20 years now that the average cost of an electric vehicle is comparable to a regular gas-powered vehicle.”
At the Lynn campus, charging capacity for up to four cars will be located across from the modular building in the Washington Street parking lot near the main entrance. In Danvers, the same four-car capacity will be installed in Lot Four in front of the Health Professions and Student Services Building. The college is charging 26 cents per kilowatt hour, its cost. Users will need to have the Charge Point App on their phone to use which is connected to a personal credit card.
The college is pleased to offer these resources to not only its students, staff and faculty but also to the public during the college’s operating hours. There will be a fee for the electricity, and a maximum charging timeline of 4 hours per station.
By implementing the charging stations the college is also following Executive Order 594 which is applicable to all Massachusetts executive branch agencies and public institutions of higher education, and aims to reduce emissions and environmental impact of state government operations. It sets a statewide goal of achieving net zero greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 2050.