Windham to restrict public EV charging at town hall

By Ed Pierce

Without objection from members of the Windham Town Council, the town manager’s office will restrict public access to the three Electric Vehicle charging stations at the Windham Town Hall.

During Tuesday night’s council meeting, Windham Town Manager Barry Tibbetts discussed posting signs and installing locks on the EV chargers after town employees could not charge their municipal EVs because the public was using them.

Tibbetts said that the town obtained grants in 2015 to install two charging stations at Windham Town Hall and added a third one several years later.

Through the years the town has been working to increase its fleet of municipal electric vehicles and decrease its dependence upon gas-powered vehicles, Tibbetts told the council.

He said that as more residents purchase EVs, finding places to charge them has led them to use the charging stations at Windham Town Hall.

“I thought it was important to bring this before the council,” Tibbetts said. “When municipal vehicles are unable to be charged because all three stations are in use by the public, we need to do something. It's like in essence that they’re getting a free tank of gas.”

A high-speed charger typically can add 200 to 250 miles of range per hour to an electric-powered vehicle.

He proposed restricting use of the three EV charging stations at the town hall, posting signage that they are for municipal vehicle use only and securing them with locks.

Assistant Windham Town Manager Bob Burns said a review of the grants used to obtain the EV charging stations does not contain language that the town must make the chargers available to town residents.

“I think the EV system is being abused,” Councilor David Nadeau told Tibbetts. “You’re right to do something with this.”

Other councilors raised the question about public access EV charging stations in town.

The chargers installed in North Windham at Hannaford in 2021 were funded using only grant funds derived from the settlement of a federal lawsuit against Volkswagen, and Efficiency Maine led the development and installation of high-speed EV chargers (also called “Level 3” chargers or “DC fast chargers”) there.

Last year, the State of Maine received a $15 million federal grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to install 62 Level 3 fast charging ports and 520 Level 2 charger ports at more than 70 sites in 63 Maine cities and towns, including some future charging stations at Shaw’s Plaza in North Windham.

Councilors did not object to Tibbetts’ proposal to reserve the Town Hall EV Charging Stations for municipal vehicles only, so Tibbetts said signs and locks will be installed there by March indicating the new policy. <