The first public charging stations will be located at the Middletown City Building, One Donham Plaza; Jacot Park on Grand Avenue; Smith Park on Tytus Avenue and in the downtown business district along Central Avenue.
Councilman Paul Horn has championed bringing public EV chargers to the city as ownership of electric vehicles increased. He urged city staff to apply for grants.
As of last month, there were 50,393 electric vehicles registered in Ohio, according to the Department of Energy. But Horn is not one of those owners.
Credit: Nick Graham
Credit: Nick Graham
“I know when we put these four chargers in, people are going to eyeball them more than using them,” Horn said. “That will change, but it takes time. You have to start some place. The genie is out of the bottle and they are not going anywhere.”
Horn likened it to the change over the generations of the make and models of traditional vehicles on the road.
He said the EV chargers, development projects including the aquatic park in the East End and even permitting marijuana dispensaries in the city are part of attracting people to visit, live in the city and stay.
“I do hope that people who have EV cars and EV trucks use them (charging stations) when they are downtown having a meal or seeing a show at the Sorg, doing business at the city building or watching their kids at one of the parks,” Horn said.
The councilman said he sees a lot of new families moving into older neighborhoods and new housing and business projects that are going to attract the next generation.
“A lot of the stuff I am pushing, I probably won’t use. I am just trying to make it better for the next generation and the existing folks who want to embrace it,” Horn said.
Acting City manager Nathan Cahall said he is exploring possible usage of electric vehicles in the city’s fleet, including some police vehicles.
“That has been the hindrance, the lack of charging stations that are not cheap by any means. Once these are installed, we will start to look at them as a component of the fleet,” Cahall said.
“EV may make more sense than staying with combustion engines” for certain vehicles in some departments, he said.
Cahall said the grant pays for the install and purchase from the manufacturer. It is yet to be determined if there will be a fee for using them.
“That has not been finalized yet. There is no requirement that this be a “for fee” charging stations. We have not determined that yet,” he said.
Others receiving grant awards in Butler County are:
• Fairfield: Fairfield Community Arts Center, Fairfield Justice Center, Waterworks Park – $443,971
• Hamilton: Hamilton Justice Center, Kettering Hospital, Miami University (Hamilton) Potters Golf Course – $1,597,068
• Oxford: Oxford Municipal Building, Oxford Uptown Surface Lot – $905,489
• MetroParks of Butler County: Rentschler Forest, Athletic Fieldhouse – $95,419
• Miami University: OXD Airport – $1,000,000
• West Chester Township: Community Development Building, Administration Building – $211,370
Congress established the Carbon Reduction Program as part of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act in 2021. The program distributes funds to states and Metropolitan Planning Organizations ike OKI, based on population.
In the program’s first year of funding in 2023, OKI awarded $2.5 million to six applicants for EV charging stations, including the Hamilton station.
In March 2024, the agency awarded $3.2 million to eight applicants including the cities of Trenton, Cincinnati, Fairfield and Forest Park.
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