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Final Report for CG-2036 - Elk River Municipal Utilities <br /> Project Title: <br /> Elk River Municipal Utilities Partners with City of Elk River and Local Businesses to Provide Fast <br /> Electric Vehicle (EV) Charging as Part of Green Step Cities Initiative <br /> General Overview <br /> The final project report will provide insight to other public power utilities about many aspects <br /> of the growing electric vehicle market.The areas of focus for this grant were: <br /> • Incorporating time-of-use rates into public charging stations <br /> • The feasibility of electric vehicles into municipal utility and city fleets for daily <br /> operations <br /> • Increase installation of privately-owned charging stations that are utilize time-of-use <br /> electric vehicle charging rates <br /> • How to evaluate, purchase, and install public charging infrastructure owned and <br /> operated by a public power utility <br /> Another key aspect of this report focuses on the relationships/partnerships needed to <br /> increase the awareness and viability of electric vehicle technology in a rapidly changing <br /> transportation marketplace. <br /> The marketplace is changing rapidly on two fronts.The first relates to the hardware of charging <br /> infrastructure and types of electric vehicles being developed.The second is on the policy side. <br /> Electric vehicles have become the technology of choice to decrease greenhouse gas emissions. <br /> By incorporating extensive renewable electric energy production into the grid, electric energy is <br /> now a clean option in terms of greenhouse gas emissions. In many areas, organizations are <br /> promoting the shift from petroleum or natural gas to electricity.This fuel switching is known as <br /> Beneficial Electrification, a relatively new phenomenon based on the environmental value of <br /> using electricity that incorporates a cleaner energy generation resource mix. <br /> Over the two years of this project,the Elk River Municipal Utilities encountered a number of <br /> unexpected situations. One of the first challenges involved the site of a Direct Current Fast <br /> Charger (DC Fast Charger).The convenience store owner that Elk River Municipal Utilities had <br /> originally partnered with for the installation was in an area that was under road reconstruction. <br /> This reconstruction required ERMU to reconsider the site location. An interesting opportunity <br /> came from a local automotive dealership.They were helpful in scheduling test drive events and <br /> 1 <br /> 40 <br />