Electric Vehicle Station Ready to Charge Electric Cars

Signs of what the future for vehicles might look like is now showing itself as Sweet Home’s first DC electric vehicle charging station is up and running on 10th Street between Main and Long streets.

The charging stations were funded by a grant through Pacific Power as it passed out more than $2 million last year in 18 locations throughout the state for electric vehicle purposes, Sweet Home being among them.

A statement on the city website reads, “This is a grant-funded project intended to provide vehicle charging as an amenity in Sweet Home’s downtown area in order to increase tourism and support the green energy initiative in Sweet Home and the neighboring areas.”

While the city hoped to be able to install two fast-charging stations, the $200,000 grant it received was enough to only cover the cost of one for $194,200 through North Santiam Paving Company. The station can, however, accommodate three more chargers should funding ever become available to expand it. It was revealed in a May 2023 City Council meeting that staff will seek out additional grants for more chargers.

City Manager Kelcey Young said part of the agreement is that North Santiam Paving Company will maintain the station. It will take 30 to 45 minutes to charge a car which, she noted, will provide opportunities for pass-through visitors to shop the downtown area while they wait.

“We have a lot of people who commute through Sweet Home from the coast and Portland to Bend, and a lot of them drive electric cars,” she said. “This is an opportunity to have them stop in our community and hopefully spend some money with our small businesses.”

It’s also the only fast-charging station she’s aware of along the Highway 20 corridor in the area. Another benefit to the city, Young said, is that the city will “eventually” begin receiving a profit from the stations. Those proceeds will be used for road improvements.

As the community adjusts to this new electric sight, it will soon also have to adjust to more changes happening on that block. It is expected that in one or two months from now, the block will become a southbound one-way street.

During a November 2023 City Council meeting, a motion was approved (6-1, Councilor Dylan Richards opposed) to make both 10th and 13th streets southbound one-ways as part of a plan to bring more foot traffic and activity to the downtown area. The timeline to complete the changes hinged on the installation of the charging station and the finalization of a parking plan.

Other reasons for creating the one-ways is to increase parking capacity in an area where parking is limited and create more opportunities for beautification projects.