Naugatuck Votes to Reject Funding to Install Electric Vehicle Charging Station

The Board of Mayor and Burgesses voted last week to reject a grant offered by the State Department of Energy and Environmental Protection to install an electric vehicle charging station in the borough, the Republican-American reports.

The borough had been approved for up to $9,964 in state grant funds to install the EV charging station at the Naugatuck train station parking lot.

Mayor Robert A. Mezzo was the only person to vote in favor of the grant.

According to the paper, burgesses were concerned about how much the charging station would cost the town in electricity. The grant mandated that the borough could not charge residents to use the charging station for the first two years and after the borough could charge a nominal fee but could not profit from the charging station.

Burgesses gave several reasons for voting against the grant including not getting reimbursement for paying electric rates and the fact that Naugatuck doesn’t have a budget and is trying to cut spending, the paper reports.

Naugatuck received the grant as part of the EV Connecticut Incentives Program, a partnership between the DEEP and the Connecticut Department of Transportation, which provides funds for municipalities and state agencies to install EV chargers.

Mezzo told the paper the board was being a little short sighted by not accepting the funding as electric vehicles are supposed to gain popularity in the coming years.

Read the full story at the Republican-American.

Image via Shutterstock

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