JONESBORO — City Water and Light’s two electric vehicle charging stations are up and running in downtown Jonesboro, according to Slade Mitchell, CWL’s spokesman said Thursday.
The two stations — one at 219 Monroe Ave. and the other at the parking lot at the intersection of Madison Avenue and Union Street — have two ports each, Mitchell said.
An hour’s charge, which a vehicle can run on for 65 miles, costs $3.46, he said.
If a vehicle stays parked at a charging station after charging it gets charged 12 cents per minute for occupying the space, Mitchell said.
Between April 26 and Wednesday, Mitchell said, 16 vehicles have used the stations. He said he expects those numbers to improve as word gets out.
The stations cost $21,000 to install and CWL was reimbursed $18,900 from a state-run grant, Mitchell said.
“The rebate was higher because we put it on public property,” he said.
Some local businesses, such as hotels, have EV charging stations available, primarily for their regular customers, but City Water and Light and the City of Jonesboro have teamed up to place some chargers in public parking lots.
Mitchell said it’s possible CWL will install more charging stations in the future, but nothing is set in concrete.
Scott Hardin, public information officer with the state Department of Finance and Administration, said in an email Thursday, “We currently have approximately 2.75 million passenger vehicles (cars, trucks, SUVs, etc) registered in Arkansas. From that total, 2,094 of those vehicles are fully electric while 22,818 are hybrid vehicles.”
In 2020 the state had 1,303 electric and 18,242 hybrid vehicles. In 2019 the state had 781 electric vehicles and 13,861 hybrid vehicles, Hardin said.
In other news, the CWL Jonesboro Solar Park went online about a week and a half ago, Mitchell said.
The facility will generate an estimated 24,292 megawatt-hours of zero carbon emission during its first year of operation, according to a CWL release.
The plant, located on about 98 acres near Nestle Way and Great Dane Drive, will produce enough energy to power 1,600 homes, Mitchell said. The amount of energy will change over time he said.
Originally the project was due to be completed in February but was delayed by weather.
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