Milford was selected to receive funding from the Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control (DNREC) DC Fast Vehicle Charging Station Grant Program back in 2022 for two new electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in the downtown area.
The city's proposal was one of several selected by DNREC with funding from the VW Mitigation Settlement Fund, as well as contributions from the city itself.
Milford’s Electric Director Tony Chipola says he hopes the new stations bring in travelers from Route 1 and 113 and increase foot traffic to the city's local businesses and Riverwalk.
“The whole idea is obviously to bring in traffic off of the main roads, get them parked, get them charged up, and while they’re charging and waiting for their vehicles to get ready, to have the ability to go down to our beautiful downtown area, visit our local shops and hopefully enjoy all that Milford has to offer," Chipola says.
He adds although the new charging stations take up a few public parking spaces, with the increase in EVs, the stations are a necessary first step in updating the city’s infrastructure and making a more conscious effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
He says there has also been talks of switching the city’s fleet over to electric vehicles.
“I think there were some grant opportunities we were going through recently to try to see what city vehicles we can move over to EVs. A lot of that funding kind of got pushed towards first responders, so that’s something that I think is in process right now.”
Chipola says the city will evaluate the usage of these stations over time and will continue to monitor if more EV chargers are needed throughout Milford.
The charging stations are located in front of Arena’s at 200 North East Front Street.
