Bonduel pursues grant for EV charger

The village of Bonduel is seeking a $15,000 state energy grant to fund installation of one of the area’s first electric vehicle charging stations.

If Bonduel receives the grant, the EV charging station would be located on a village-owned parking lot at the intersection of Green Bay and Cecil streets, said Jesse Rankin, Bonduel’s municipal services director.

Bonduel residents probably don’t see the need for a charging station at this time, said Rankin, which is why he doesn’t want to use taxpayer dollars to fund the project.

Buss Chevrolet-Oldsmobile, of Shawano, would be donating the station, a Level II charger, which are deployed where drivers can charge their vehicles while at work, shopping or dining.

Rory Buss, president of the Buss dealership, said the General Motors Dealer Community Charging Program is in its infancy and there’s more paperwork to do before the stations become operational.

“Besides Bonduel, we’re looking at other locations, maybe Charlie’s (County Market), maybe the hospital, but nothing’s final yet,” he said.

GM’s program gives three charging stations to each dealer to contribute locally, and up to 40,000 nationwide, to make chargers more accessible and move closer to the goal of zero exhaust emissions.

Shawano City Administrator Eddie Sheppard said that Shawano Municipal Utilities has completed the electrical work and is awaiting the arrival of four chargers to be installed, within a few weeks, near SMU’s offices.

“We’d like to be adding more in parking areas and parks,” in the future, Sheppard said.

While EVs remain scarce in the area, Shawano’s charging stations could be a draw for those driving across the state who could stop, shop and charge up, according to Sheppard.

“Having more stations pop up could encourage others to purchase an electric vehicle,” Sheppard added.

Sheppard admits to being a little “out front” of the EV trend in the area but sees car manufacturers pushing them and expects to see many more down the road.

SMU’s chargers won’t be the quick-charge type, but an hour of charging should get an EV back on the road for a reasonable price billed to a credit card.

The chargers were donated by SMU’s wholesale electric supplier, Badger Power Marketing Authority.

In Bonduel, the two-vehicle charging station also should have a positive economic and environmental impact on the community, Rankin said.

“Currently, (the village) doesn’t have any electric vehicles and doesn’t have any immediate plans to add any, but everybody is trying to reduce the carbon footprint and electric vehicles seem to be the wave of the future,” he said.

The village gets a lot of north-south traffic on weekends, and an EV charging station in the center of town should attract those drivers to stop and charge up, “Because the stations will be more scarce further north,” Rankin said.

The cost of charging an EV varies. Based on the national average price of electricity at 12.89 cents per kilowatt hour, and if an EV requires 40 kWh to fully recharge its battery, the cost would be $5.16, according to GM.

Applications for the state’s Energy Innovation Grant Program are due by Jan. 30, 2023, and grant recipients will be announced sometime later. If Bonduel doesn’t receive that grant, Rankin said he will look for other funding sources.

“My goal is to have a charging station here without any expense to the taxpayer,” he said.