Ribbon-cutting held for new electric vehicle charging stations

Story and photo by Senior Contributing Writer Alice Gerard

Grand Island now has four new electric vehicle charging stations at a plaza owned by Larry and Michael Playfair, at 1738 Grand Island Blvd., close to the bridges that link Grand Island to Tonawanda.

The Grand Island Chamber of Commerce held a ribbon-cutting for the new fast-charging stations on Aug. 5.

The charging stations started with an idea that Western New Yorkers needed more opportunities to find easily accessible places to charge their vehicles.

“Basically, what we were doing was looking at different sites throughout Western New York that needed chargers,” explained Mike Prinzi, president of Pure Performance Renewable Energy Solutions (PPR Energy Solutions), who worked on the project with his business partner, Mike Smith, an electrician. “We looked at it from a needs standpoint first. We couldn’t find DC fast charging available to the public. There are infrastructure maps out there that show where all the chargers are located.

“We were fortunate enough to meet Larry Playfair. We pitched the project to him. He seemed receptive to it. Maybe he’d been a little skeptical at first. ‘EV chargers. What are we doing?’ But, eventually, we were able to get the project off the ground. It took about 12 months of development. We were able to take advantage of some of the incentives that were out there, with one being from National Grid. Then, we built it in about a month. This thing went live in mid-June of this year. We’ve seen utilization numbers that are off the charts. Way more than we expected.”

According to Mike Gilbert, who is in charge of business development at PPR Energy Solutions, “In the first 45 days the DC fast charging electric vehicle locations have been in operation, they have been averaging 48 unique customers per day Mondays through Thursdays, and 65 unique costumers per day Fridays to Sundays.”

Prinzi said, “This partnership reflects our commitment to building practical, high-quality charging infrastructure where drivers need it most. Grand Island is an important connection point in Western New York, and adding four DC fast chargers along the I-190 will make EV travel easier for the community and for visitors passing through the region.”

Larry Playfair said, “I’d actually been looking into doing something with EV because we’ve got some people in the plaza who had mentioned it to me. It just makes sense. So, I’d been looking into it for about a year or so, and I ran into a friend of mine at a Sabres game who worked for PPR. One thing led to another. We met over here at Tim Hortons and, within six to eight months, what you see is what we’ve got.”

Whitney Skeans, who works for National Grid as lead program manager for the electric vehicle “Make Ready” program, explained, “I’ve been managing National Grid’s ‘Make Ready’ incentive program for business customers since 2021. We’ve worked with all kinds of business customers to get them the funding to support the infrastructure behind the charging. PPR is one of the installers that works in our program, whose projects I’ve managed since that time. This is a really exciting project because, although it’s a Tesla super charger, it’s also open to non-Tesla vehicles. It’s very democratic in that way. People are concerned. ‘Can I charge? Do I have to have a certain plug?’ Most vehicles now will have an adaptor.”

“It’s good to see this project come together,” Gilbert said. “The chargers are being used a lot, as you can see here today. People have been coming in and out of here all day long. It’s great to see, and it’s another alternative. We’re happy to bring it here to Grand Island.”

“If you put charging in the right locations, if you build it in the right locations, people will come to the chargers,” Prinzi said. “These chargers are busy all day, every day. We’re getting utilization numbers that we didn’t expect. Just the fact that people are seeing it on the maps. It’s working above and beyond what we expected.”

When asked what he thought about the project, Gilbert said, “It’s great. It’s good to see this project come together and have these chargers installed. They’re being used a lot, as you can see here today. People have been coming in and out of here all day long. It’s great to see, and it’s another alternative. We’re happy to bring it here to Grand Island.”

Skeans said, “National Grid is committed to the future of clean transportation. We work with a lot of installers throughout our upstate electric service territory, and we anticipate funding into the future. At this moment, we are on a pause. The program is waiting for additional approvals, that the state would authorize additional funding into the future. At this point in time, we’re really excited to celebrate where we’ve come. Over 7,500 plugs have been incentivized through upstate New York, by way of National Grid’s program.

“We are trailblazing here and really excited to be here today to celebrate this installation that’s getting so much value for the community, for our tourism industry, and for our customers.”

Playfair added, “It’s clean. The customers are generally in and out. It’s more business for the tenants in the plaza. So, it’s a win-win.”