ATHOL – After some brief delays, the Energy Committee will celebrate the installation of two new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in town.

A “plug-in ceremony” is planned for 2:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 19. The devices installed in the parking lot of the former Pleasant Street School, located at 1060 Pleasant St., will join other stations at the Millers River Environmental Center and in the parking lot behind the Athol Public Library. The event will take place rain or shine.

Planning and Development Director Eric Smith said plans originally called for the charging stations to be installed in the municipal parking lot at the corner of School and South streets, across from the Athol Area YMCA.

“That project was funded under the Green Communities grant program” said Smith. “At that time (the committee) also thought about other locations for stations around the area, including Lord Pond Plaza.”

However, the greening of Lord Pond Plaza was still in the design stage, and it was decided to forego that location, according to Smith. Using the municipal parking lot was also considered, but complications with finding an appropriate power source and steadily increasing costs resulted in this idea being abandoned.

“In 2022, we finally decided to pivot and move the stations to another location,” Smith continued. “So, we chose the Pleasant Street School.”

Delays, however, led to the town returning the Green Communities grant funds to the state. The town then applied for assistance through the state Department of Environmental Protection’s Electric Vehicle Incentive Program.

“We got $50,000 from EVIP,” Smith explained, “which was actually more than we got from the Green Communities grant funding. With the town match [of $16,981] we were ultimately successful in getting it done.”

The original Green Communities grant was for $15,000.

Smith said the town had to negotiate the installation of the stations with LaunchSpace, which is currently leasing the former Pleasant Street School from the town. The town and LaunchSpace had to work out details because the cost of operating the devices, borne by the town, shows up on LaunchSpace’s utility bill.

“It was a long and winding road,” said Smith, who said LaunchSpace was very supportive of the project.

One of the conditions for receiving the EVIP grant, said Smith, was a requirement that the town install signage directing motorists to the stations.

Representatives of the town’s Energy Committee, the Department of Planning and Community Development and LaunchSpace will be on hand for the official ceremony. A member of the committee will plug their electric vehicle into one of the new Charge Point EV Charging Stations. The idea, he said, came from committee member Katalin Krieger.

“This is to promote the fact that we have these EV charging stations,” said Smith. “It’s way to call attention to the fact we now have these new facilities.”

Installation of additional public EV charging stations is a goal of the town’s Community-Wide Decarbonization Plan. The plan was prepared to help the town align with the state’s goal of reducing carbon emissions by 50% by 2030 and 85% by 2050. It’s focused on reducing energy use and carbon emissions from a variety of sources, including buildings and transportation facilities.

A copy of the decarbonization plan is available at the Town Energy Committee’s website at https://www.athol-ma.gov/town-energy-committee. For more information, contact Eric Smith at 978-721-8500, ext. 517 or esmith@townofathol.org.

Greg Vine can be reached at gvineadn@gmail.com.