What Duke Energy has planned with $76M electric-vehicle pilot program in NC

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Duke Energy Corp. proposes to spend $76 million on a three-year pilot program to build and promote charging stations for electric vehicles in North Carolina and help speed adoption of such no-emissions vehicles in the state.

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In a filing with the N.C. Utilities Commission, Duke proposes to offer $1,000 rebates to as many as 800 residential customers for installation of home charging stations for their vehicles as well as provide rebates of up to $2,500 each to as many as 900 commercial and industrial customers, universities and municipalities to help with the costs of installing charging stations for fleets transitioning away from fossil fuels. In addition, it plans to pay the full costs for 800 public charging stations across the state.

Lang Reynolds, director of electrification strategy for Duke, says some of the company-owned charging stations will be in major cities, while others will be built along highways and more rural areas to make charging available for longer trips. About 120 of those stations will be fast charging to promote highway use of the vehicles.

The proposal aims to support N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper’s Executive Order 80, which, among other clean-energy goals, seeks to increase the number of electric vehicles in the state to 80,000 by 2020.

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Cox Media Group