The city-owned charging station downtown on Sunday. The bike didn’t need charging.
A few weeks ago — I can’t remember exactly when — I heard someone at an Albany City Council meeting say that the city’s new electric-vehicle charging station downtown had gone on the blink. So on Sunday I stopped by the parking lot behind the Wallace Building (the former J.C. Penney store), where the EV charger sits.
Being on the bike, I had no need for an electric boost. But from the looks of the little display, I could not have gotten one anyway:
I have no idea what the “status code” meant. But the “ALARM” above it didn’t look promising.
Wondering whether the device had gotten fixed, on Monday I checked with Sophie Dykast, the City Hall staff member working on economic development and the Central Albany Revitalization Area, the downtown urban renewal district.
It was through her efforts that Pacific Power paid for having the station installed, which happened last summer after a couple of years of preparation. Mayor Alex Johnson II opened it in a little ceremony on Sept. 29, 2021.
As luck would have it, Dykast had good news.
“Yes it did get fixed just today,” she emailed back. “I am waiting on the follow-up to hear exactly what was wrong; hopefully a one-time issue.”
There are other EV charging stations in Albany. The ones that come to mind are at Linn-Benton Community College and at Walmart. (There are probably others, but I haven’t seen them.)
As for the downtown station, I reported its technical details last September here. The idea behind it was that it would be part of the overall downtown renewal in keeping with the times, a convenience to EV owners checking out the attractions of the revitalized town center.
Let’s hope this works as intended, now that the charger has been fixed. (hh)
Walgreens has them.
HH
The codes are meaningless to most. Usually relevant to the repair tech, and can only be explained in jargon .
I live near LBCC and often go through campus on my walks. Usually every charging station is being used.
Money better spent fixing our streets
Good luck convincing Pacific Power – they paid for it…
No, WE paid for it!
And where in the hell do you think Pacific Power got the money? Time for you to move on if you come up with inane revelations like that.
I can’t afford a car, but have to pay PP so elitists can get a free ride. I’m sure the CITY is sucking up as much as they can from that in “franchise fees” which are a SALES TAX. Of course you are in denial of that too.
Sorry to disappoint you but I’ve already stated I’m not running in the next election… And since the State and courts have also agreed that it is not a sales tax, you’ll have to deal with it. I stand by what I said.
Of course you DON’T answer the question “where in the hell do you think Pacific Power got the money?
You don’t disappoint me because you aren’t running again. You disappoint me for everything you’ve done. The $10,000’s you cost us citizens in order to get a few cents in “your franchise fees”. Obfuscation is your game.