Savannah to partner with Georgia Power to support electric vehicles

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - Savannah City Council is set to approve an agenda item recognizing a new partnership with Georgia Power to support a growing electric vehicle market.

The City’s new public works facility under construction on Interchange Drive is one of two sites selected across the state to participate in the soft launch of this new program.

The “Georgia Make Ready” program will officially launch later this year. The program’s purpose is to support the state’s growing electric vehicle market by building the necessary power infrastructure that will support EV charging stations. Georgia Power will fund all the power infrastructure upgrades, while the City will pick up the cost for the charging stations themselves. Georgia Power has also agreed to give the City additional power capacity to expand electric vehicle charging stations over time at the new public works building as Savannah’s EV fleet expands.

“Savannah was chosen as the first city for this pilot program and was approved by the Georgia Public Service Commission in 2019 due to a strategic role in the state’s growth and economic development being right there on the coast with the port,” said Allison Gregoire, a Georgia Power Spokesperson. “This is also an opportunity to meet the city’s electric transportation needs. We’re seeing more EVs all over the state, all over Georgia highways every day, and Georgia Power is just really committed to helping our customers with those energy needs, those EV energy needs as well as the cities that they live in.”

Through the partnership, Savannah will be able to build four charging stations, with the possibility of expanding to more than two dozen at the public works building capable of charging 50 electric vehicles simultaneously.

Copyright 2021 WTOC. All rights reserved.