Norwich, VT - King Arthur Flour and Green Mountain Power (GMP) have completed a solar-powered electric vehicle (EV) charging station at King Arthur Flour’s flagship campus location. The dual-port charging station will be available with dedicated prime parking spots at the bakery, school, café, and store in Norwich.

"We are excited to partner with King Arthur Flour to make this new solar assisted EV charging station available to customers of King Arthur Flour," said Steve Costello, Green Mountain Power’s vice president for generation and energy innovation. "Forty-seven percent of Vermont's greenhouse gas emissions come from transportation. Increasing the number of cars that run on renewable electricity is one of many strategies that Vermont can employ to move away from fossil fuel-based transportation without jeopardizing reliability and cost. Making charging station infrastructure available is critical to the adoption of electric vehicles.” 

"As a founding B-Corp and one of the first Vermont Benefit Corporations, King Arthur Flour is committed to high standards of corporate social and environmental responsibility," said Steve Cochran, King Arthur Flour's VP of Infrastructure. "This partnership plays a part in our commitment to our community and the planet."

This new Dual ChargePoint electric vehicle charging station is compatible with all electric vehicles on the market today. It includes customer-oriented features such as online and smartphone directions and reservations, driver notification of charge status, and effortless charging session initiation.

The station will be paired with a 9.54 kW net-metered solar array, all built by Same Sun of Vermont. "The three-pole, 36-module solar array will help demonstrate how renewable energy fits in with new technologies to displace the carbon emissions from transportation," said Philip Allen of Same Sun of Vermont.

It is anticipated that the electric vehicle market will grow in the coming years. There are currently more than 100 plug-in electric or hybrid models on the market. The EV charging station will be different than the traditional gas station model, as fully charging a vehicle takes multiple hours, and will typically be done at home. However, it is expected that public charging stations will be used to "top off" electric vehicles to expand their range.

According to Karen Glitman, director of transportation efficiency at the Vermont Energy Investment Corp, there were 282 EVs registered in 104 Vermont communities as of July 1, 2013, up from just 88 EVs at this time last year. During that same period of time, the number of communities with EV registrations has nearly doubled.  

The project cost $51,900 with a grant of $17,500 from GMP approved by the Vermont Public Service Board. GMP previously supported the installation of charging stations at Vermont Law School and Green Mountain College. There is another project under construction in Brattleboro, with three others in planning stages.

Terri Rosenstock, King Arthur Flour, (802) 526-1835
Steve Costello, Green Mountain Power, (802) 793-4031