City Enters Electric Fueling Business with “Hose Cutting”
The City of Billings celebrated its entry into the business of selling electricity to fuel electric vehicles, last week. Demonstrating the cutting of ties to carbon-based fuels, rather than a ribbon cutting, the Mayor of Billings, Bill Cole, cut a gas hose with an electric saw, announcing that six electric vehicle charging stations are now available in downtown Billings. The stations are all operational and can charge any electric vehicle. They are open to the public 24/7 for the cost of the electricity.
The cost of the chargers and installation was paid for with a grant from the Department of Environmental Quality using settlement funds from a Volkswagen suit and with a 10 percent match from the city. They cost about $30,000 each. Given that battery range is limited, electric vehicles need more fueling stations than what is being made available by the market place. “These charging stations are part of our city’s quest to build modern transportation infrastructure that will fuel economic development,” said Mayor Cole. The city plans to install six more stations at the Billings airport with a second grant. Montana was allocated $12.6 million of the $15.7 billion environmental mitigation trust.
