EPB gives green light for electric vehicle charging stations; another increased fuel costs

Allyson Dix

Jobe Publishing, Inc.

 

The Glasgow Electric Plant Board unanimously approved moving forward with the installation of the city’s first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations last week with plans to partner with the City of Glasgow for the costs.

In April, the board did not entertain the proposal for charging stations, which would have ultimately cost the Glasgow Electric Plant Board (EPB) around $40,000 after reimbursements from the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) program for the installation.

However, Superintendent David Puskala told board members last week that EPB has been working with the city on specifics that would reduce EPB’s out-of-pocket cost to $15,000.

Puskala revealed the location being considered for the new charging station, which he said was a different location than the undisclosed location mentioned in April.

Plans for the station will be located behind Glasgow City Hall in the parking lot area across from the Glasgow Plaza Theatre.

Puskala said the overall total cost for the project would be roughly $200,000, which includes the chargers and site work as well as other work EPB would need to do.

“A general breakdown of the cost is the chargers themselves are $142,000 and then the site work and the work that the EPB has to do with the other roughly $58,000 of the project,” Puskala said, “And with the TVA contribution to the project as well as the city’s, our cost for that $200,000 is roughly $15,000.”

The EV charging station would be able to provide a handicap-accessible parking spot and capable of delivering 125 kW to a single vehicle, or 62.5 kW to two vehicles at the same time, Wade Brewer, EPB Project Engineer, said. While the costs per kW change daily, customers would be looking at around $3.00 for every 15 minutes of charging.

Puskala said TVA’s reimbursement would come at a later date.

He also said taking on such a project will advance EPB in understanding the new technology and the impact it will have on their power system.

Brewer said EPB would follow the project guidelines set forth by TVA since they will be reimbursing 80% of the funding. He explained the contract would be a 7-year contract with 15 months to get the site up and running. After that, he said, EPB would be required to fully operate the site for a minimum of 5 years.

TVA has set a goal to have a DC fast charger every 50 miles along any major corridor, which would be the Cumberland Parkway for Glasgow, Brewer said.

 

Fuel cost increase

Customers will see another increase for fuel cost adjustments in August at 4.5-cents, but it is anticipated those will start declining possibly in September.

“This is the highest fuel cost adjustment that TVA has ever had and it goes back to the natural [gas], but mainly the commodity pricing,” Puskala elaborated. “It’s not just the natural gas pricing or the coal pricing that TVA’s paying, it’s also the power that they’re buying off the grid is more expensive.”

While Puskala stated fuel cost adjustments are never designed to be zero, it generally should be around 2 to 2.5-cents. He said there are many things “wreaking havoc on the commodity pricing” including the war in Ukraine.

“August is another month that is tough for customers because it’s peak usage for air conditioning although June and July, so far, haven’t been great—that’s for sure,” Puskala added.

Fuel cost adjustments are paid for by the customers through monthly billing, but EPB receives no revenue from those increases. Chief Financial Officer Melanie Reed explained, “Whether it’s a penny or 4-cents, as far as our revenue, it doesn’t matter because whatever we collect we’re basically turning around and paying it to TVA.”

 

New board members and officers

In May’s board meeting, former EPB Chairman Mark Haines announced his resignation citing he is relocating to Eastern Tennessee. With the addition of newly appointed Troy Stephens and Beau Jones, EPB’s Board of Directors now have four board members. Marlin Witcher and Glenn Pritchard are also continuing to serve as board members.

At the May meeting, Pritchard was elected as the new Chairman and Jones was elected as Secretary/Treasurer.