AGAWAM – Agawam is moving forward in its mission to become a greener community. The town recently partnered with Eversource to install seven dual-port electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at town-owned properties.

“The town is creating a charging station network to establish Agawam as an EV-friendly community, where EV-owning residents will have some options for a public charge. Visitors, as well. We want the Pioneer Valley EV community to think about Agawam when they are making decisions about where to spend their spare time, where to shop, where to recreate, and the like,” said Planning & Community Development Director Marc Strange.

The stations, at Agawam High School, Borgatti Park, Corey Street Bandstand, School Street Park, Agawam Public Library, Agawam Senior Center and Shea Field, were strategically placed around town to provide a network of power for EV drivers and reduce “range anxiety,” the fear of running out of battery power while on the road.

It is free for drivers to use the charging stations – for now. “We do not currently charge users to use our charging stations. We want to establish our network and see how expansive usage becomes before determining a long-term pricing strategy,” said Strange.

EV still represent a fraction of the vehicles on the road, but Strange said that will soon change.

“Electric vehicles will become more common as the technology evolves and becomes more affordable. We want to get ahead of that mass market expansion, which is coming very soon. We wanted to offer charging stations for current residents and visitors, who may feel range anxiety; but if our EV-friendliness attracts new residents, then that would be great, as well.”

Agawam committed to becoming a Green Community in 2017, Since then, the municipality has implemented energy-saving projects solutions in municipal buildings and in the schools and worked with both Eversource and Columbia Gas. Taken as a whole, the projects are expected to save the town nearly $3 million in energy costs and reduce its carbon emissions by an estimated 1,200 tons annually.

"Thanks to our continued partnership with Eversource, we are now proud to be able to offer more EV charging access and further our goal of creating a clean, safe and healthy future,” said Mayor Bill Sapelli in a press release.

Eversource has installed similar municipal projects in Becket, Medway, Milton, Cambridge and Greenfield.

"We’re thankful for our partnerships with towns like Agawam, which share our clean energy vision to reduce carbon emissions and help prevent the effects of climate change,” Eversource Electric Vehicle Program Lead James Cater said in a press release.

For more information on Eversource’s EV charging station program, please visit www.eversource.com.