Enfield,Glastonburyamong those to receive funding for electric vehicle charging stations

Jul. 5—Locally, Coventry will receive around $55,000 for nine stations; Enfield will receive almost $116,000 for seven stations; Glastonbury will receive around $381,000 for eight stations; and Windsor Locks will get $38,000 to install four stations.

The funds come a settlement stemming from the Volkswagen emissions cheating scandal in 2015 where the company publicly admitted that it had designed software that could cheat emissions tests and deceive federal and state regulators.

Connecticut was home to about 12,000 of the 590,000 vehicles tampered with. The settlement resulted in the state receiving more than $55.7 million over a 10-year period to help offset the pollution emitted by the vehicles, according to Gov. Ned Lamont's office.

Of the $6 million released from the state last week, around $1.8 million is being spent at state sites to advance sustainability goals, $3.3 million will go toward municipal projects, and about $1 million will be given to non-government, public projects.

"I'm really proud of the investments we're making in Connecticut's future while driving down air pollution from cars and trucks at the same time," Lamont said.

The statewide projects will reduce 2,760 tons of nitrogen oxide emissions and almost 126,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions, Lamont said.

"The projects we are announcing today will go a long way in helping to improve air quality and protect public health throughout Connecticut, while also providing economic development opportunities," Lamont said on Thursday.

Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Commissioner Katie Dykes said that transportation is responsible for around 70% of smog forming air pollution and 40% of climate pollution in the state.

"As the world and the town turns greener and greener and more electric vehicles are on the road, it just makes sense that the town of Windsor Locks embraces this technology and gets ahead of the curve and installs these charging stations to make sure not only Windsor Locks residents, but all Connecticut residents have a place to charge their car," said Windsor Locks First Selectman Paul Harrington.