Charge North Project
Charge North
Project Summary
The Charge North project is a community-led project, directed by six regional districts, with planning and implementation facilitated by the Community Energy Association (CEA). The project engages 43 local governments from south of Kamloops to Haida Gwaii in order to develop an electric vehicle (EV) charging station network of over 2,780 kms.
The project complements the Province of B.C.'s CleanBC Plan launched in December 2018, which will require 100% of vehicles sold in B.C. to be sero-emission by 2040.
Benefits of an EV Network
The network will be designed to:
- Support local priorities;
- Decrease community-wide greenhouse has emissions;
- Drive economic development through EV tourism;
- Increase transportation choices for corridor residents and business; and
- Reduce transportation costs and vehicle maintenance for new EV owners.
Work in Progress
Since May of 2018, the project team and Advisory Committee have been:
- Establishing community priorities;
- Increasing awareness and capacity;
- Planning and impact modeling; and
- Securing financing for deployment.
Project Timeline
In 2018, the project team's efforts were focused on facilitating a comprehensive charging network of both Direct Current Fast Charger and level 2 charging stations, car dealership outreach, and public awareness and education. Since early 2019, the project team has been focused on the capital resourcing component of the Charge North project. Following succesful capital resourcing, it is anticipated that installation of 50 level 2 charging stations across 28 communities (including 2 First Nations) commence in late 2019 into 2020.
In March 2019, the North Coast Regional District (NCRD), on behalf of the project team, submitted an application to the CleanBC Communities Fund which seeks $753,000 in grant funding to support the installation of 50 level 2 charging stations across 28 communities within the project study area. This component of the project is anticipated to cost $1,027,000, with the CleanBC seeking 73% coverage of the total project cost. As the project team awaits news on this particular grant funding application, it continues to work tirelessly to secure additional matching funds for the completion of the project.
As part of this project, the NCRD has entered into a partnership agreement with the CEA to formalize the relationship between the NCRD as the lead applicant to the CleanBC Communities Fund grant application and the CEA as the overall project manager.
