Muskoka District Council has approved a bid to install new EV chargers in Muskoka.
At the Monday afternoon meeting District Council voted unanimously to approve the application made by Lakelake Solutions to install new EV chargers throughout Muskoka. The new EV chargers will come at no cost to the district.
In a presentation before the Finance and Corporate Services Committee in December there were bids from Alectra Energy Solutions and Lakeland Solutions, a division of Bracebridge Generation (BGL). These bids were to work with the district to install new EV chargers.
The key component to the bids was to be able to use the ChargeON grants, a provincial government initiative to help cover installation costs for new EV projects. The ChargeON grants would only be available to both companies if their application was approved by the district before the end of January.
After deliberations by district staff, it was recommended that the district partner with Lakeland. The deal will be a lease agreement where the district permits Lakeland to install and operate chargers on district property for public use. Lakeland will pay for all capital and operating costs involved in installation and maintenance of the chargers, while keeping all resulting revenues.
Bracebridge Generation and by extension Lakeland, is a municipally owned local entity with experience installing EV chargers in Muskoka. The fact that BGL is municipally owned means that the project is eligible for up to 75% of costs to be covered under ChargeON grants. Presently district staff stated that they had outlined six potential locations for the chargers in Muskoka but had yet to finalize plans.
The chargers will allow for more residents of Muskoka to transition to using electric vehicles. Increased use of electric vehicles will be particularly beneficial for reducing GHG emissions from Muskoka. According to a 2018 report from the district up to 74% of all community emissions in Muskoka are from the transportation sector.
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Peggy Tupper says
There is only one taxpayer. It does not matter that there is “no cost” to the district, the funding comes from the province so the public is still paying for infrastructure that most of us will never use. There is nothing wrong with GHG emissions. CO2 is necessary for plant and tree growth.