There was a time when seeing a Tesla plugged in anywhere would have been newsworthy, but as the electric vehicles have gotten more and more popular, seeing them plugged in for a charge has become more and more commonplace. Unless you’re in a small town in Montana.
A Tesla driver from California recently made the front page of the Ekalaka Eagle, the newspaper for the town of Ekalaka, Mont., population about 400. The driver was looking to top up and decided to plug their Model Y into a NEMA 14-50 port on a utility pole. When they returned to charge a second time, they found the plug had been shut off and were told by a passing local that an image of their vehicle charging there had made the front page of the local paper.
Concerned that they could be in some sort of trouble, the driver and passenger went to the electric utility’s office to offer to pay for the electricity they used. They were reportedly met with some laughs and told not to worry about it, but they insisted and ended up paying about $60. That bill apparently also included the electricity used by a musician who plugged into the same outlet during a street dance event in the town’s dinosaur festival.
