Georgia Power, Marine partnership pilots EV charging stations
Georgia Power in partnership with Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany will test a turnkey, scalable electric vehicle charging solution.
The project will see 21 electric vehicle charging stations installed at nine locations throughout the base allowing up to 96 vehicle to be plugged in on the base simultaneously. The stations are already being installed and are expected to be complete by this fall.
Georgia Power, a subsidiary of Southern Company, was awarded a Services Administration Areawide Contract (AWC) for its first-ever turnkey electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) solution to be a model for the U.S. Department of Defense. If successful, the solution will be used across the country allowing local utilities like Georgia Power to design, construct, own, operate and maintain EVSE. It also marks the first time the AWC will be used to provide EVSE solutions to support current and future electrification requirements.
“This modernized energy infrastructure will support our mission and lessen our dependence on fossil fuels,” said Meredith Berger, Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Energy, Installations, and Environment and Chief Sustainability Officer. “Innovative partnerships and solutions like this make our installations more survivable and the communities they are a part of more resilient.”
The contract provides public private partnership with regulated servicing utility companies to provide federal agencies with the utility service they need for up to 10 years. In this contract, MCLB Albany will use the “Make Ready” program in which Georgia Power will own, install and maintain the EV charger and electrical infrastructure. The Make Ready program allows MCLB Albany to accelerate their plans and maximize the government’s investment, and to meet the President Joe Biden’s Executive Order 14057 of a 100 percent zero-emission fleet.
The project is an example of collaboration between the base and Georgia Power to advance better energy use and overall modernization, officials said.
“This is a great partnership with Georgia Power as the DoD looks into the future. We need to prepare the base and Marine Corps to support a future electric vehicle fleet,” MCLB Albany Commanding Officer Col. Michael Fitzgerald said.
