Tri-County EMC installs Jones County's First Electric Vehicle Charging Station

Gray, GA – On July 17, the first electric vehicle charging station in Jones County was installed at Tri-County EMC Headquarters in Gray. Funded by the EV Project, this charging station is one of thousands of stations installed in 9 states across the nation. There are currently 89 stations in Georgia, with 6 of those in the Middle Georgia area.

ECOtality, a leader in the research and development of advanced energy systems, was awarded a $114.8 million dollar grant from the U.S. Department of Energy to begin the EV project. With partners, the total value of the project is approximately $230 million.

Once all charging stations are deployed, the goal is to collect and analyze data to characterize vehicle use in diverse conditions, evaluate the effectiveness of charge infrastructure, and conduct trials of various revenue systems for commercial and public charging stations. After analyzing these results, the ultimate aim of the EV Project is to take lessons learned from the initial deployment of electric vehicles and their charging infrastructure to enable smooth deployment of the next 5,000,000 electric vehicles.

The Blink Pedestal Charger, located in the Tri-County EMC parking lot, was provided with grant funding from the EV project. The charger provides a convenient method of charging electric vehicles. Electric vehicle owners will park their car, pay at the charger using a Blink card and the touchscreen guide, plug their car into the Blink station and wait for the charge. Most cars, for a full charge, will take approximately 2-4 hours. Blink members will pay $1 per hour, while Blink guests will pay $2 per hour.

“This is another example of electric cooperatives being on the cutting edge of promoting renewable resources,” said Greg Mullis, VP of Energy Services. “Our Green Power EMC program was the first renewable energy program by a utility in Georgia, so it’s no surprise that a cooperative would take the lead in bringing a charging station to our community. As more people choose electric vehicles, this will be a great resource for Jones County residents and visitors passing through our area that need a place to charge their vehicle.”

The Level 2 station (240 volt AC input) will charge any vehicle that uses a standard SAE J1772 connector. Some examples of vehicles using this standard are the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt, Ford Focus Electric, Toyota Prius Plug-in hybrid, Tesla, Mitsubishi I MiEV, and Fisker Karma. After fully charged, electric vehicles can travel on the charge anywhere from 60 miles to 120 miles, depending on the car.

For more information on the EV project, visit www.theevproject.com.

About Tri-County EMC:
Tri-County Electric Membership Corporation is a member-owned electric cooperative serving more than 21,025 accounts in Baldwin, Bibb, Jasper, Jones, Morgan, Putnam, Twiggs and Wilkinson County. The cooperative, chartered in 1939, is headquartered in Gray, Georgia and has a district office in Eatonton and a payment center in Milledgeville. Tri-County EMC is governed by a nine-member board of directors elected by and from the cooperative's customer/members.

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