The City of Naperville continues to accept entries in a raffle for five electric vehicle charging stations from now through Fri., August 24. As the City prepares for the future of the electric vehicle through the Naperville Smart Grid Initiative, this raffle will help the community incorporate this emerging technology.
One electric vehicle charging station will be raffled off to accommodate each of three electric vehicles currently available: the Chevy Volt, the Nissan Leaf and the Tesla. Two additional charging station units will be raffled off that can be used for any one of the above-mentioned vehicles or other electric vehicles that are not listed but that meet pre-determined compatibility requirements.
Through this raffle, the Department of Public Utilities-Electric will work with each recipient to better understand how this new technology will impact the electric grid in the coming years. Currently the City is implementing the NSGI, an upgrade of the City’s $360 million electric network to provide more efficient, cost-effective and reliable service to customers and empower them with more information on their energy usage. Through the NSGI, the initial infrastructure will be in place to support electric car charging as these vehicles become more mainstream.
The charging stations being raffled off were obtained by the City as part of its federal matching grant for the NSGI. The stations will allow the City to assess the impact of these vehicles on Naperville’s electric grid as well as develop installation practices and standards while allowing customers an opportunity to evaluate how best to incorporate this type of device within their home. In addition, the stations will allow DPU-E to evaluate specially designed electric rates for these charging stations.
The raffle is open to City of Naperville residential electric utility customers who currently own an electric vehicle or plan to own one within six months immediately following the raffle. Entries will be accepted through Fri., August 24, and the winners will be announced on a to-be-determined date during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the City of Naperville electric vehicle charging station being installed later this summer in the Van Buren surface parking lot.
