Electricians abuzz over B.C. subsidy
$50,000 AVAILABLE: Provincial funds will support training in installation of electric vehicle charging ports
Electricians in B.C. are energized by news of provincial funding for a new training program that will teach them to install and maintain electric-vehicle charging stations.
Adam Wicks, owner and operator of Wicks Electric Inc., said interest in charging port installations has grown “exponentially” for his firm.
So far, he’s installed about a dozen wall connectors for Tesla owners and another half-dozen generic charging ports in businesses and homes.
“We went from having one or two calls a month to one or two calls a week, now, for quotes for these installations, so it definitely is increasing,” Wicks said.
“There’s definitely going to be a huge demand for these vehicles, resulting in a huge demand for the charging stations.”
Wicks welcomed the announcement Thursday that $50,000 will be injected into the new program.
He said electricians are kept busy with charging stations because of 2011 updates to Vancouver’s building bylaws, which require 20 per cent of parking stalls in new multi-home buildings to have charging ports and new electrical rooms to have space to install charging equipment.
Funding for the program comes from B.C.’s $10.6-million Clean Energy Vehicle (CEV) program, which was launched in 2011 and renewed in 2014 to make electric and hybrid vehicles more affordable, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
“It’s an attempt by us to make sure there’s enough people with specific skills to build these charging stations,” said Bill Bennett, B.C.’s minister of energy and mines.
The $50,000 will subsidize course fees for an electric vehicle infrastructure training program run by E2Inc, part of the Electrical Joint Training Committee.
Red Seal-certified electrical installers, inspectors and instructors are all eligible for the funding.
Bennett said a key part of the CEV infrastructure is reducing the public’s “range anxiety,” the concern that a CEV’s battery will run out between charging points.
Graham Trafford, chairman of the joint training committee and E2Inc, said the money will help establish a “train the trainer program” for instructors working for post-secondary institutions, private training firms and joint training groups.
Trafford said safety is his top concern when it comes to training electricians to install and maintain the high-voltage charging stations.
“You’re working with higher voltages that should be done by qualified people, so you want to make sure (they) understand how to do the installations as per the electrical code,” he said.
B.C. currently has the largest public charging network in Canada, with 1,083 residential and public stations.
The CEV program has supported 301 residential charging stations, 142 multi-unit building stations, more than 550 public level-2 charging stations and 30 DC fast-charging stations, according to the ministry.
The program has funding in place to install 20 more fast-charging stations and 200 more level-2 charging stations by the end of March, 2018, Bennett said.
An incentive fund for CEV purchases has almost run dry two years earlier than expected, but Bennett said he’s “cautiously optimistic” the ministry will be able to find more funding to get drivers into CEVs.
“Electric cars have captured the imagination of the public,” Bennett said.
“People really, really like the program, and when people really like the program it just means you’re going to be able to accomplish a lot more emissions reduction.”