On the morning of Monday, July 22, 2024, Sturgeon Electric began to install electrical infrastructure in the Visitor’s Center parking lot to prepare for several new Level 3 EV chargers, to be installed before the end of the summer.

Installing at least two EV chargers a year is listed as one of the top goals of the Sustainability Advisory Board (SAB). The Town of Nederland originally had estimated that the installation of the Level 3 chargers would not begin until August or September; however the Town’s Sustainability Coordinator, Leah Haney, met with Xcel Energy on July 9 to finalize a plan for installation.

Sturgeon Electric is partnered with Xcel Energy on the EV Supply Infrastructure Plan, through the Transportation Electrification Plan (TEP), to provide Colorado towns with “design, installation of high-voltage infrastructure and electrical and secondary metered service, and maintenance of the system once functional.”

Xcel’s TEP is expected to help the State of Colorado reach its goal of having 940,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030, as well as achieve Xcel’s own goal to provide 100 percent carbon-free electricity by 2050.

Level 3 charging stations charge vehicles much more efficiently, and have been rated to charge an EV battery up to 80% capacity within half an hour. Such chargers deliver three to 20 miles’ worth of kilowatts for every minute’s worth of charging time.

The Visitor’s Center parking lot currently has one Level 2 charger which, after the implementation on June 14 to increase the charging fee to 40 cents per kilowatt hour, has not been charging vehicles. The SAB and Sustainability Coordinator Haney were in discussions with charger manufacturer ChargePoint to have the charger repaired.

Additionally, the Nederland Community Library has offered to provide matching funds on a joint grant with the Town to fund one more Level 3 EV charger at another location, possibly within the library’s parking lot.