Four more electric vehicle charging stations have come online in Bangor and Newport.
That expands a growing network of electric vehicle charging stations across the state as part of a program administered by Efficiency Maine.
The two Bangor charging stations were installed at Irving Oil on Odlin road, while the two in Newport were installed at Irving Oil on Moosehead Trail, according to Efficiency Maine. They were unveiled Wednesday morning.
Those are the first of 14 planned charging stations to be installed across central and eastern Maine this year. Eight more will come online in Auburn, Belfast, Ellsworth and Fairfield at the end of May. Another two will become available in Lewiston by the end of December, according to Efficiency Maine.
They aren’t the first electric vehicle charging stations to come to Bangor. Some are already installed at the Abbott Square parking lot across from the library, the Pickering Square parking garage and the Cross Insurance Center.
Under the Efficiency Maine program, more than a dozen charging stations have been installed across the state from Jackman to Kennebunk to West Gardiner.
Electric vehicles are a key component of Gov. Janet Mills’ clean energy goals. Mills’ climate action plan aims to reduce Maine’s greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent by 2030 and 80 percent by 2050, compared with levels recorded in 1990.
The state needs 219,000 light-duty electric vehicles, or 1 in 6 vehicles, on the road by 2030 to curb greenhouse gas emissions by 45 percent. But a report issued by the Mills administration last December said Maine doesn’t have enough money to meet its electric vehicle goals.