Essex Powerlines Corporation (EPL) is a dynamic organization that is prioritizing sustainability, electrification and decarbonization of the grid. An important sector EPL is targeting to advance these objectives and achieve the Government of Canada’s goal of net-zero emissions by 2050 is transportation, which accounts for 25 per cent of total emissions in the country. That’s why EPL launched its Charge Up Windsor-Essex County program, which allocated $2 million in Government of Canada funding to 148 new local EV charging stations in the region.
In 2021, EPL identified a need for additional public EV charging infrastructure in Windsor-Essex as an important step for enabling electrification locally. At that time, only 64 public EV charging stations were available in the area according to ChargeHub, a platform allowing EV drivers in the U.S. and Canada to find public stations to charge their vehicles.
Although increasing numbers of Canadians have been making the switch from gas-powered to electric vehicles, EPL quickly recognized that more publicly available EV charging infrastructure would be needed to support this transition. “Range anxiety”, a worry among potential EV drivers that they could become stranded because they are unable to charge their vehicle on the road, was recognized by the organization as one of many roadblocks to EV uptake – but it was one they could help solve.
Click here to read more about Essex Powerline's new EV charging stations in the summer issue of The Distributor.