An electric vehicle charging station in Damariscotta, Maine. (Evan Houk/Maine Morning Star)
The next step in Maine’s commitment to building a network of electric vehicle chargers will come in the form of new high-speed charging stations opening in the next year.
With 52 new chargers across 17 different locations, the stations will be placed on heavily traveled highways and roads such as Interstate 95, U.S. Route 2, parts of Portland and Bangor, and near outdoor recreation areas, according to a news release from the governor’s office Wednesday morning.
As drivers choose electric vehicles for environmental reasons and other benefits, Gov. Janet Mills said in the release that “Maine must have a robust charging infrastructure to help ensure that you can get there from here.”
The cost of the charging stations comes to about $8.5 million, with the money coming from multiple sources, the release said. Most of that money ($5.7 million) is coming from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Program, which is part of the federal bipartisan infrastructure law. The remaining $2.8 million is coming from the Governor’s Maine Jobs and Recovery Plan and settlement funds from the New England Clean Energy Connect project.
Nine of the 17 new locations — in Bangor, Bridgton, Hermon, Newport, Portland, Rumford and Windham — will be funded by the federal program and have at least four chargers per station. The other eight stations will have at least two chargers each.
“This expansion of high-speed charging infrastructure will help reduce range anxiety for current and future Maine EV drivers and will help communities attract commerce and tourism,” said Joyce Taylor, chief engineer at the Maine Department of Transportation.
The new high-speed chargers will be placed at these locations:
Cumberland County
Hannaford Supermarket, Main Street, Gorham
Nouria, Ossipee Trail, Gorham
University of Southern Maine, School Street, Gorham
Marginal Way Parking Lot, Portland
Hannaford Supermarket, Forest Avenue, Portland
Shaw’s Plaza, Roosevelt Trail, Windham
Nouria, Portland Road, Bridgton
Franklin County
Rangeley Hideaway, Main Street, Rangeley
Oxford County
River Street Parking Lot, Rumford
Penobscot County
Tractor Supply Plaza, Central Street, Millinocket
Dysart’s Restaurant and Truck Stop, Coldbrook Road, Hermon
Airport Mall, Union Street, Bangor
Hannaford Supermarket, Stillwater Avenue, Bangor
Hannaford Supermarket, Moosehead Trail, Newport
Alltown Market, Park Street, Orono
University of Maine, Beddington Road, Orono
Piscataquis County
Indian Hill Trading Post, Moosehead Lake Road, Greenville
Maine intends to install charging stations at least every 50 miles along the state’s major corridors in urban areas and in rural service centers using grant money it expects to receive over the next several years, the release said. The state is supposed to receive an additional $12 million from the federal program that funded these new high-speed chargers and another $15 million from the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Program.
Currently, Maine has more than 1,000 EV charging ports across nearly 500 locations, according to a map from Efficiency Maine.
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