Savannah is the first city in Georgia to partner with GA Power as a soft-launch partner in a new electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure program called “Georgia Make Ready.”  The purpose of the program, which will officially launch later this year, is to support Georgia’s growing EV market by building out necessary power infrastructure to support EV charging stations.  Through the partnership, GA Power funds all the power infrastructure upgrades, and the City funds the EV charging stations. 

The City’s Public Works Facility at Interchange Court was selected as one of two locations state-wide to participate in the soft launch of this new program. The City was selected through the work of the Sustainability Office and recommendation from the Public Service Commission. As a pilot-project participant, GA Power has agreed to provide the City with additional power capacity necessary to expand EV charging stations over time at this location as our EV fleet expands, with no additional infrastructure requirements or costs needed for the foreseeable future.

This represents a real opportunity to leverage this program to achieve tangible steps towards both the City’s 100% Renewable Energy goal and EV fleet transition goal at a substantially reduced cost.  Through this partnership, GA Power has funded approximately $98,000 in power and infrastructure upgrades and the City will fund the purchase of four (4) EV charging stations with capacity to charge eight vehicles simultaneously at a cost of $6,300.  With the power infrastructure upgrades provided by GA Power, the City already has in place the capacity for approximately 25 charging stations on this site, capable of simultaneously charging 50 electric vehicles.