Eversource to invest $250M in electric vehicle charging in CT, Mass.

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By Zachary Vasile

Eversource Energy plans to invest $250 million in electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Connecticut and Massachusetts in an effort to speed up adoption of the technology, the utility’s CEO said Thursday.

Speaking at a Connecticut Business & Industry Association economic conference, Joe Nolan, who took over as Eversource’s chief executive in May, said the company is expanding its electric vehicle support efforts from Massachusetts to Connecticut as part of a statewide electric vehicle charging program set up by regulators in July. The investment will occur over several years.

“We’re supporting the creation of a charging network that will help make electric vehicles an attractive and convenient option for drivers throughout New England,” Nolan said.

The Public Utilities Regulatory Authority has said its electric vehicle charging project will provide incentives for the deployment of chargers in various market segments, including residential and workplace settings. Eversource, together with the United Illuminating Co., will administer the program starting in 2022.

Connecticut has set a goal of getting between 125,000 and 150,000 electric-powered vehicles on the road by 2025, with that number growing to 500,000 such vehicles by 2030.

Nolan said the new investment will dovetail with other company efforts to produce a cleaner energy grid, including offshore wind projects now underway in Long Island Sound and off the coasts of Massachusetts and Rhode Island and the adoption of energy storage technology, which could make renewable energy sources more viable.

Eversource currently has an energy storage project up and running in Massachusetts, he said, and the utility would like to launch one in Connecticut soon.