At its Monday, July 13 meeting, the city approved a resolution purchasing a total of eight electric vehicle charging stations, which it will place in different locations in its downtown and Old Town areas.
Two “Direct Current Fast Chargers” will be placed at 110 S. Hamilton St., the same address that houses Retro Rocks on the west side of the Saginaw River. The other six standard “Level Two” charging stations will be placed in pairs, located at the SVRC Marketplace parking lot, located at 211 S. Water St.; the retention basin parking lot located at 100 N. Hamilton St., across Court Street from the fast chargers; and 220 S. Baum St., located roughly between the SVRC Marketplace and Saginaw Police Department building.
Electric vehicle drivers will pay a fee to use the two fast-charging stations, the other six will be free to use.
The stations will cost the city roughly $100,000 to install, according to the draft resolution approved at the meeting as part of the consent agenda. The overall cost of the purchase was just over $250,000, but thanks to $110,000 in rebates from Consumers Energy and just over $40,000 in grant funding from the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, the city will pay less than half of the total cost of the upgrades out of its own coffers.
The city’s Downtown Development Authority also contributed about $50,000 to the purchase, said Yolanda Jones, director of Saginaw’s Office of Management and Budget. Two other resolutions on the consent agenda for the meeting formally accepted the rebate and grant funds.
The stations will make it more convenient for electric vehicle drivers to charge up in the city of Saginaw, and will also improve the electrical grid for Consumers Energy customers in the area, according to the resolution. Installation is expected to be complete by the end of the year, Jones said.
“We wanted (locations) near businesses you can get out and walk to,” Jones said. “It’s a great thing for the City of Saginaw and anybody who has an electric vehicle as they drive north.”
According to ChargeHub, there are currently two public places to charge electric cars in Saginaw: Two plugs located at Consumers Energy at 2400 Weiss St., and one plug at Garber Nissan, located at 5450 Bay Road.
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