Four County Electric Membership Corporation (EMC) recently held a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new Electric Vehicle (EV) charger at their Elizabethtown district office to celebrate the first public EV charging station in Bladen County.
Following remarks made by CEO Don Gatton; NCEMC Sr. Vice President of Innovation and Development Diane Huis; and Dane Rideout, Elizabethtown Town Manager, FCEMC board directors Kenneth Thornton, Jr., and Ronald Allen did the honor of cutting the green ribbon.
This EV station is one of three new Level 2 chargers recently installed by the cooperative utilizing the DEQ grants funded with money from the Volkswagen emissions settlement. The other new chargers are located at their Rose Hill district office and FCEMC’s headquarters in Burgaw. The cooperative now has five charging stations available to the public.
There has been a 50% increase in EV registrations in North Carolina in the last year, according to Huis. “We appreciate co-ops like Four County for their innovation and willingness to add these new technologies.”
Gatton says, “With EVs becoming more prevalent, we and other co-ops are working to provide the charging stations necessary to meet this growing demand. These public charging stations may encourage our members to consider an EV and increases tourism opportunities for EV drivers considering traveling to our area.”
After the ceremony, guests could check out or take a test drive in one of the EVs available for the event.