Range anxiety vs. free power

Continued from page 6 and

Rather, range anxiety is totally a function of the charge capacity of the vehicles’ batteries, and specific to this situation, the absence or shortage of charging stations. And C-K overcame that barrier with the initial $170,000 investment in the seven charging stations. They already did the heavy lifting and there was absolutely no need to pile on more cost in the form of free power.

This fact was as obvious, but somehow it did not occur to our municipal thinkers. It’s this lack of logic, and common sense, and business acumen, and accountability that really concerns me.

The free power that is being given away is a totally unnecessary and inequitable waste of taxpayer dollars. And while it is pretty embarrassing that our municipal leaders could not even come up with a logical excuse as to why they did it, it’s never too late to admit you screwed-up and correct the error (i.e. shut down the free power). Or does that make too much sense for some to comprehend?

Director, Environmental Assessment Branch Ministry of Environment, Conservation and Parks

135 St. Clair Avenue West, 1st Floor Toronto, ON M4V 1P5

EABDirector@ontario.ca

Requests should also be copied to Dhana Niriella and/or Tom Mahood by mail or by email. Please visit the ministry’s website for more information on requests for orders under section 16 of the Environmental Assessment Act at https://www.ontario.ca/page/class-environmental-assessmentssection-16-order.

Your feedback is important to us.

To provide comments, request additional information, or if you have any issues accessing the document for review, please contact a member of the Project Team:

Dhana Niriella, Ph.D., P.Eng. PE

Project Manager, Chatham-Kent Public Utilities Commission - Engineering & Compliance

325 Grand Avenue East Chatham, Ontario N7L 1W9

Telephone: 519-360-1998

Email: dhanan@chatham-kent.ca

Let’s at least hope that the free use of these stations is being assessed and monitored over the coming months. Who is using them? How many of the users are repeat users? What is the primary reason for their use (if there is a reason other than taking advantage of free)?

How much of the free power will be consumed by municipal employees while at work? Will we be told how much free power was donated at the end of the project?

Tom Mahood, P.Eng.

Project Manager, Jacobs Engineering

72 Victoria Street South, Suite 300

Kitchener, Ontario N2G 4Y9

Telephone: 519-579-3500 extension 73241

Email: Tom.Mahood@jacobs.com

If there is no request received by March 25, 2023, the CK PUC will proceed with design and construction of the new raw intake, low lift pumping station, water treatment plant, raw and treated water transmission main, as presented in the ESR. All personal information included in a submission, such as name, address, telephone number, and property location, is collected, maintained, and disclosed by the Ministry of the Environment, Conservation and Parks for the purpose of transparency and consultation. The information is collected under the authority of the Environmental Assessment Act or is collected and maintained for the purpose of creating a record that is available to the general public as described in Section 37 of the Freedom of Information and Protection of Privacy Act. Personal information you submit will become part of a public record that is available to the general public unless you request that your personal information remain confidential. For more information, please contact the Project Officer or the Ministry of the Environment’s Freedom of Information and Privacy Coordinator at 416-314-4075.

This Notice of Completion was first issued on February 23, 2023.

And here’s one more question: Why should it take six months to evaluate this wasteful project? Maybe the answer to this is the same as the “screwing in a lightbulb” question.

In closing, it really feels like the municipality jumped into this without much thought at all on how to operate and manage the business of EV charging stations. Everyone else seems to know how to run their business, why is it so difficult for C-K to run theirs?

Rick Youlton Chatham-Kent