Ready, set, charge: Neosho now equipped with EV stations

Aug. 15—NEOSHO, Mo. — Drivers of electric vehicles can now let their cars and trucks recharge while they stroll Big Spring Park or downtown Neosho.

Three new dual port charging stations are the first to be installed here by a grant program offered by Liberty Utilities. They are set up in the farmers market area at 114 N. Jefferson St.

Two other cities in Missouri are to be selected by Liberty to participate in the same grant program, the Ready Charge Pilot Program, for grant funding of charging stations.

On Tuesday, representatives of Liberty, the city of Neosho and the Neosho Chamber of Commerce celebrated a ribbon cutting for the new service.

Each of the three stations has two chargers, making it possible for up to six vehicles to be recharged at one time. At 7Kw, they can provide 25 miles of electric power for each hour of recharging, said Robin McAlester, senior manager of transportation electrification for Liberty.

"This is going to be something where folks can come and charge their vehicle and be able to shop in downtown, to have lunch or grab a cup of coffee while their vehicle is charging," McAlester said.

"Any vehicle can use these chargers," she said. "These are not manufacturer-specific, so no matter what type of EV you have, you will be able to use these chargers."

To demonstrate that, there was a Chevrolet and a Tesla connected during the program to introduce the charging stations, and power for a speaker's podium with microphone was supplied by a Liberty pickup truck connected to a charger.

These particular charging systems are ChargePoint Level 2 chargers, which are part of the largest network of charging devices in the U.S. That network provides 24-hour support of its chargers, McAlester said.

"These stations are going to provide an opportunity for people traveling I-44 or I-49 to come into town" for recharging, she said, "but for those customers of ours who do not have a place to charge at home, this will certainly be an option for them."

Jennifer Shewmake, vice president of finance and administration for Liberty, thanked Neosho officials for participating in the program. "To partner with you all to have these in your beautiful community is an honor for us. So we are proud to be here today."

She said it is a short drive from Interstate 49 into Neosho, and the hope is that it will bring new shoppers and customers to the Neosho community.

Lauri Lyerla, CEO of the Neosho Chamber of Commerce, called it "an exciting project" for the town.

"A lot of times we're out in the community listening to what the community is needing, listening to their ideas, and sometimes we don't always understand where they're coming from because it's not something we're familiar with. EV cars (are) not something that I was very familiar with, but I had a community member reach out to me and say, 'Hey, it would be amazing to have some EV chargers in downtown Neosho to really attract people off the interstate and attract them to downtown,'" she said.

She asked Liberty representatives about it and learned about the new pilot program. That led to an application for the grant program.

The grant program, Ready Charge, is one of five types of pilot programs approved by the Missouri Public Service Commission, the state's utilities regulator, in October to provide more access to electrically driven vehicles.

"We know this is a rare opportunity for Neosho to get this," Lyerla said.

David Kennedy, city manager of Neosho, said "it was an opportunity to bring some of that (I-49) traffic downtown, to our community, to help support our downtown and our parks system."

There will be signs posted to provide awareness of the location of the chargers and the location will be added to city maps.

In addition, phone apps are available. Some of the most popular are ChargePoint, PlugShare and Electrify America.

Liberty also received PSC approval to roll out some other EV programs on a pilot basis. Those include the Residential Smart Charge program as well as commercial electrification and EV school bus programs. The Residential Smart Charge Pilot Program provides a subscription service for qualifying Liberty residential customers who equip their residences with a dedicated smart Level 2 electric vehicle charging station.