DIGHTON — Town Administrator Mallory Aronstein is pleased to announce that the Town of Dighton has installed two electric vehicle charging stations in town.
The charging stations, located at Dighton Town Hall (979 Somerset Ave.) and Old Town Hall (1111 Somerset Ave.), each have two pumps available for public use. They are the only two charging stations in town.
The stations were funded through the Town’s Green Communities Designation, as well as National Grid rebates.
Dighton Highway Department staff laid the concrete footings for the stations the first week of March, and staff from the Methuen-based company Voltrek installed the stations on Friday, March 6.
Building Commissioner Jim Aguiar and Highway Department staff worked to prepare the locations for installation. Dighton Board of Selectmen Executive Assistant Karin Brady worked to coordinate with representatives from Voltrek, as well as California-based electric vehicle infrastructure company Chargepoint, as part of the project.
“Electric vehicles are only going to become more and more popular over time, and it is important that the Town offers this service to residents who have chosen to seek a more environmentally-friendly mode of transportation,” Town Administrator Aronstein said. “We are pleased with the finished product and look forward to residents using these stations starting immediately.”
The Town of Dighton received its Green Communities Designation in December of 2018, under the charge of Selectman Brett Zografos and the Green Communities Committee, which included a group of Dighton residents.
Contracts for various projects were signed last October, with the charging station project the first to be completed.
The designation award amounted to $143,636. The cost of the chargers was just under $20,000, plus an additional $5,000 charge for warranties and other programming needs. The National Grid rebate program supplied the Town with $29,000.
“Three years ago, in 2017, when the Green Communities Grant Committee and I embarked on the journey of designating Dighton a Green Community and reducing the Town’s energy consumption by 20% by 2021, we knew we wanted to use some of the grant funds to transition the Town’s fleet to green, electric vehicles over time,” Zografos said. “We knew we first needed to have in place the infrastructure required to sustain electric vehicles.”
Zografos said the electric vehicle charging stations not only serve as a symbol of the Town’s commitment to energy efficiency, but also a pragmatic step forward to helping the Town achieve its goals.
“The EV charging stations both symbolize and solidify the Town of Dighton’s status as a leader in energy efficiency in Southeastern Massachusetts, so much so that we have inspired towns such as Rehoboth, with whom we share a regional school district, to work towards Green Community designation,” Zografos added.
Upcoming projects under the Green Communities Designation include installing LED lighting in municipal buildings, which is about half-way completed; installing Wi-Fi thermostats in municipal buildings; and conducting building weatherization measures in municipal buildings, such as attic insulation and roofing fixes.
Once these measures are completed, the Town can utilize any remaining designation funds for additional projects or apply for future green community grants.
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