Worcester Getting $640K To Build Electric Vehicle Charging Spots

WORCESTER, MA — The state Department of Environmental Protection (MassDEP) on Thursday announced about $13 million in grants that will go to companies across the state — many that operate gas stations — to build electric vehicle charging stations.

Six different companies operating gas stations across the city will get a combined $640,000 from MassDEP to set up new stations. The grants will pay for about 14 new charging facilities, according to the state.

The grant announcement came just two days after Worcester City Councilors voted to kill a citizen petition seeking to stop new gas stations from being built. One argument against the petition was that electric vehicles weren't prevalent enough to cease building gas stations.

"The rate of use of electric cars in 2021 was approx 4 percent," At-Large Councilor Morris Bergman said during Tuesday's meeting. "We're not talking about a huge increase yet."

That debate ended with District 3 Councilor George Russell asking for a larger discussion about expanding electric vehicle use locally.

Some of the new EV charging stations funded by the MassDEP grants be located at gas stations. Here's which companies got the grants:

• $100,000 to Applegreen New England for two charging stations. The company owns a Mobil gas station in Worcester.
• $100,000 to Blink Network to build two charging stations. Blink operates hundreds of charging stations across the U.S., with the closest one to Worcester at a McDonald's in Oxford.
• $100,000 to Westborough-based Cumberland Farms for two charging stations.
• $100,000 to Equilon Enterprises — the business name for Shell Oil Products — to build two charging stations. There are five Shell-branded gas stations in Worcester.
• $140,160 to EV Build to build four charging stations in Worcester.
• $100,000 to Global Partners, which owns more than a dozen Honey Farms stores in Worcester, for two charging stations.