Clark Electric Cooperative One of Several Behind CHARGE EV Initiative for Rural Areas

Thursday, February 4th, 2021 -- 11:04 AM

Clark Electric Cooperative, along with 28 other electric co-ops, has joined together to create a regional electric vehicle, or EV, charging network across Wisconsin, Illinois, Iowa, and Minnesota named CHARGE EV, LLC.

The network includes over 30 Level 2 and Level 3 charging stations and that number is growing.

“Electric co-ops have brand awareness and a strong relationship with their members and communities. We want to ensure when EV drivers leave their co-op service area they know other EV charging stations are available throughout the upper Midwest powered by electric co-ops. One of the main goals of the group is to plan for future growth in EVs, and to alleviate ‘range anxiety,’ which is the concern some people have about traveling in an EV without a place to charge their vehicle,” said Tim Stewart, CEO of Clark Electric Cooperative.

The objective is to provide EV owners peace of mind driving from Iowa to northern Wisconsin, or from Minnesota to Illinois, knowing there are co-op powered chargers along their route.

That will give people confidence to consider an EV and encourage growth in the EV market. The CHARGE EV infrastructure is just the start as the group plans for additional investments in the EV market including member education on installing home chargers and encouraging members to test drive EVs.

“We are proving this can be done in the upper Midwest where EV adoption has been slow, but we believe the real value will be in having other utilities join under the CHARGE EV brand,” Stewart said. “We hope in the near future there is a national co-op EV brand and charging network.”

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