durango receives funding for electric vehicle infrastructure effort

A move to put in place and expand electric vehicle infrastructure in Durango, Colorado, has received a shot in the arm with the support of two new state grants.

The separate grants, with a total value of $45,000, have been approved for the southwestern Colorado city to help begin the process of putting in place an electric vehicle readiness plan.

The state’s Department of Local Affairs has approved $25,000 to help pay for the development of the plan’s administrative costs, while another grant of $20,000 from the Colorado Energy Office is designed to cover consultant costs, also for developing the plan.

The plan will be jointly spearheaded by the Durango Sustainability Program and La Plata Electric Association.

Speaking with the Durango Herald, Dominic May, energy resource program architect at La Plata Electric, said that putting a plan into place could eventually prove expensive, “If we do not get ahead of infrastructure, control, and setting up programs.”

Durango officials have previously discussed the possibility of building at least two new electric vehicle charging stations to add to an existing such facility at the Durango Transit Center, located at 250 W. 8th Street.

The new stations would be built at the Durango Community Recreation Center at 2700 Main Avenue, and the Durango Public Library at 1900 E. 3rd Avenue, with the possibility of additional stations being built later at other locations in the city.

The city’s electric vehicle readiness plan is expected to be developed in conjunction with a goal approved last year by the Durango City Council pushing for a 30 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions over the next decade.
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The plan, according to city documents, is expected to be in draft form by late fall, and officially completed and adopted in December.

By Garry Boulard

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