City of Northampton, Massachusetts Central Services

Memorial Hall, 240 Main Street Northampton, MA 01060

David Pomerantz Director of Central Services (413) 587-1238 Fax: (413) 587-1248

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE October 18, 2012 CONTACT: Chris Mason, Northamptons Energy and Sustainability Officer (413) 587-1055, cmason@northamptonma.gov

City Turns On Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

NORTHAMPTON, MA (October 18, 2012) On Monday October 15, 2012, five of ultimately eight City-owned electric vehicle charging stations were turned on and are ready to welcome electric vehicles to Northampton. Already installed are two chargers located at the bottom of Crafts Avenue, two at Fire Department Headquarters on Carlon Drive off of King Street and two in the Gare Parking Garage. Two more chargers will be installed in the police station parking garage being constructed on Center Street and will be available to the general public after business hours once the garage is open. Due to a communication problem between the chargers in the parking garage and an off-site data center there has been a delay in activating one of the chargers in the parking garage. This is a temporary technical problem that the installer is working on. says Chris Mason, Northampton Energy and Sustainability Officer. We expect the second charger to be up and running within a week or two. In the meantime, the City wanted to let our small but growing number of electric vehicle (EV) owners know that there are five chargers now available for use In Northampton. The Northampton Transportation and Parking Commission recently approved a temporary parking arrangement at the chargers until the Commission and City staff can research and propose to City Council a formal City ordinance regulating use of the chargers. This temporary arrangement will enable City staff to monitor the use of the charging stations to inform a final recommendation. The Commission is asking that EV owners use the parking spaces at the chargers only while charging. If an EV owner plans on parking for longer than it takes to fill-up their cars batteries, the Commission asks the owner to estimate how long it will take the car to charge and plan on moving the car to another location once it is charged. The parking spaces at the bottom of Crafts Avenue will serve two purposes: free 15-minute parking and EV parking while charging. City staff recognizes that these two spots are heavily used for quick stops so the City is asking EV owners to respect this use and move their car once it is charged. City staff will closely monitor the use of these two parking spots during this initial period and report back to the Transportation and Parking Commission. To encourage local use of low-pollution high-mileage electric vehicles, charging at Northamptons EV stations will be free to the general public until commercial paid-charging stations appear or the cost of operating City-owned chargers rises above the minimal cost of serving early-adopters.