MONTE VISTA – The City of Monte Vista, Xcel Energy and the Monte Vista Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon cutting for the city’s first public electric vehicle charging stations on Thursday, Sept. 26, in the parking lot at the corner of First Avenue and Jefferson Street.
MV City Manager Gigi Dennis said, “I want to thank all of you for being here today, for the celebration of our electronic charging stations. This is a project that Xcel brought to the city, as a means to have more charging stations on highways. Monte Vista previously did not have any charging stations. So, this investment in four fast-charging stations means a lot. We would have sought out grant funds, and we probably couldn’t have done it, so we appreciate the partnership with Xcel and what you are doing for the community.”
Dennis said she was appreciative of how the charging stations created additional economic opportunities for the city.
“People will stop, they will charge, they will make their way downtown and support our businesses and restaurants, too. We want to say thank you,” Dennis said.
MV Mayor Dale Becker was excited about the charging stations and said, “Thank you. This is a great thing. This is awesome right where it’s at. I drive by here every day, and see vehicles plugged in. It’s going to serve a great purpose, as people continue to get more of these EV cars. I think we will see more people stopping in our area. Thank you.”
Xcel Energy Area Manager Ashley Valdez spoke about the collaboration and the opening of the charging stations in the centralized location.
“We just want to thank the City of Monte Vista for partnering with us,” Valdez said. “You guys have been an absolute dream to work with. We looked at some other areas to do a charging station, but this made the most sense because people are able to get out, they are able to walk around and visit businesses, that is so important. We want that for our communities.”
Valdez spoke about what Xcel Energy hopes to accomplish with the stations.
“Xcel Energy’s goal is to have one of five vehicles on the road to be an electronic vehicle by 2030, and that also goes along with the state goal to have 940,000 electric vehicles on the road by 2030 as well.”
Valdez said that there is some degree of difficulty in putting up these types of stations in different places due to permitting and other legalities. Valdez said that she really wanted to thank City of MV Public Works Director Robert Vance for helping Xcel throughout the process.
“We are happy to be here, and happy to continue to connect the community in a vital way. Not only Monte Vista, but the Valley as a whole too. I think as we can connect the Valley and bring more people in and through, this is just a great thing. So, thank you for letting us be a part of it. Congratulations to the Xcel team, and Monte Vista on this project,” Valdez said.
Xcel Energy Clean Transport Infrastructure and Bus Operations Manager Mike Theis added, “The partnership has been mentioned a couple of times, and certainly we couldn’t have done this project without the partnership. The city, Gigi and Robert have been fantastic to work with. Sometimes these projects can get caught up in red tape, that was not at all the case here. The city helped us through the construction and permitting process. It’s been a fantastic project, and we are happy to have it opened now. We have gone through some testing processes here. It’s been fantastic to work with the city and finally get this opened to the public.”
According to Xcel Energy, the site offers four EV fast chargers, owned and operated by the energy company. The parking area is well lit, and accessible for public use 24/7. The area that the stations are in helps provide access to local businesses and restaurants while people are using the stations.
The chargers are equipped to serve a variety of EVs. The brand and model of the station chargers are ChargePoint Express Plus. The chargers include power blocks, the blocks allow the chargers to delegate a nameplate charging speed of 160KW.
EV owner Jenny Nehring and fellow EV owner Laura Conchelos were at the ceremony. Conchelos is also a Monte Vista Urban Renewal Authority member.
“Well Laura got this kicked off, as far a nudge to the city and inquiring on the status of this. Laura and I are neighbors and EV owners. We love seeing this in our city. As someone who knows what it’s like to pass through a city, find a charging station, and then you have to wait 30 or 40 minutes, it’s awesome to walk down the street to stop in somewhere for coffee, this location is perfect for that. Another thing about EV owners is when they stop and have a good charging experience they will return again and again to that spot. It’s great for our city, our community, and our Valley,” Nehring said.
