The City of North Royalton recently received two grant notifications to install two electric vehicle charging ports in North Royalton. The first port will be located at the North Royalton YMCA location on Wallings Road. This grant comes from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). It will be located on the western side of the YMCA.
It was reported by Plug in America, that in 2017, there were over 7,633 plug-in electric vehicles on Ohio roads. “Plug In America is the nation’s leading independent consumer voice for accelerating the use of plug-in electric vehicles in the United States to consumers, policymakers, auto manufacturers and others,” according to Plug In America officials. In the state of Ohio, it was reported that there were 6,510 electric vehicle owners in 2018, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.
“The Ohio EPA has awarded $3.25 million in grants to support the installation of more than 500 publicly accessible Level 2 electric vehicle charging ports at more than 170 locations in 22 counties,” according to Ohio EPA officials. “The grants will help improve Ohioans’ access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure. North Royalton joins 21 other locations in Cuyahoga County, with Ohio EPA grants totaling $303,182.” The city will receive a grant of $15,000 from the Ohio EPA for two, 2021 Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging ports. The amount will be reimbursed after all work has been completed and the city submits a written payment request to the Ohio EPA. The cost of installation is expected to be about $27,000. Jordan said that the funding for the remaining amount could possibly come from an upcoming Northeast Ohio Public Energy Council (NOPEC) grant or through the city’s general fund.
“Funding for the grants comes from Ohio’s allocations from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund. Public and private entities in 26 counties were eligible to apply for the grants which provide all or partial funding for the electric vehicle charging stations,” said EPA officials. “A separate round of grant funding for fast-charging stations is planned later this year. Ohio EPA also will be funding an electric school bus pilot project. The Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund resulted from a federal lawsuit that alleged Volkswagen AG installed defect devices on certain vehicles (model years 2009-2016). The devices, activated during emissions testing, made vehicles appear to be compliant with the law, when in fact, during on-road operation, the vehicles emitted nine to 40 times the allowable amount of nitrogen oxides, a harmful air pollutant. A settlement filed with the court distributed funds to states based on the number of vehicles with the illegal devices that were registered within them. The trust agreement requires each state to develop a plan to identify how funding will be allocated between 10 allowable uses that reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and offset damages.”
“We hope to get it installed by the end of the year,” said Tom Jordan, North Royalton Community Development Director. The kiosk has the ability to bill the user of the kiosk. It is our intention to recover the cost of electricity and the cost of the maintenance. It is being utilized as a benefit to the residents of North Royalton.” Jordan said that those who will utilize the charging stations will use a credit type of application that will ultimately credit the city for the cost, plus a fee to help cover the cost of maintenance. The YMCA will then bill the city for the cost of the unit through a meter reading.
The city has also been awarded a grant from the Northeast Ohio Areawide Coordinating Agency (NOACA) for a second location, at Memorial Park. NOACA will manage the installation of the charging station and pay the contractors directly. There will be an agreement with the city for the cost of the location and maintenance. They are installing 42 stations in the northeast Ohio area and hope to have it installed later this year.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer