MISSOULA — Electric vehicle charging stations are set to expand in Montana with one to be set up in Seeley Lake thanks to a partnership with the Missoula Electric Cooperative.
Energy Services Specialist Dan Rogers says a recent board decision sparked a push to improve infrastructure at the co-op.
“One of the things that we needed to explore in the near future was the, you know, the proliferation of electric vehicles. And one of the things that goes along with that, of course, is a public charging network,” Rogers said.
Missoula Electric Cooperative will build a charging station in one of the communities in its service areas at the Seeley Lake Community Foundation with help from the Montana Department of Environmental Quality’s “Fast Charge Your Ride,”.
"For the vibrance of the community and the fact that it actually sits between Missoula and Glacier Park in the Swan Valley. We wanted to position ourselves to be able to offer that charging infrastructure to the community," Rogers explained.
Twenty additional stations will be built around Montana under the recently announced DEQ award, spaced around Montana creating a network. Rogers said the ability to take trips in an electric vehicle impacts consumer decisions to make the switch from gas, "basically take that vehicle on vacation, do a long-distance drive."
While gas prices hover above $3 in Montana, being charged per kilowatt-hour instead may reduce the cost of traveling around the state. “For that $3.40 [per gallon of gas], instead of getting 25 miles of range, you would actually get 180 miles of range with the average electric vehicle that's out there," Rogers explained.
