The Easton Police Department has added a dual-port electric vehicle charging station to support its growing fleet of electric vehicles.
Police Chief Foti Koskinas said three of the department’s 11 vehicles are fully electric. Koskinas said the department began adding electric vehicles to its fleet a little more than a year ago.
The charging station was funded in part through an incentive from United Illuminating. Koskinas said the department qualified for $20,000 and contributed about $3,500 toward the project. The statewide EV charging program run by UI and Eversource offers fleet owners up to $20,000 per site for Level 2 charging projects with at least two ports, according to the utilities’ 2026 program guide.
Koskinas said electric vehicles are well suited to police work in Easton because officers generally remain in town and do not routinely travel long distances.
“When it comes to fleet vehicles, you’re not driving long distances, and they’re constantly in town, and it’s easy to recharge them,” Koskinas said. “Emissions are not only for the environment, but it’s for officers sitting in those cars for hours or sitting in it for extended periods of time.”
Easton has previously installed public EV charging infrastructure. The Easton Energy & Environment Task Force, then called the Easton Clean Energy Task Force, obtained a $10,000 state grant for a charging station at the Easton Public Library in 2015. The town’s 2023 annual report said the task force had received another state grant and UI incentives to replace and upgrade the library charger.
Although the new dual-port station is intended for the police department’s fleet, Koskinas said he has also been approved for another incentive from the UI program to install additional public charging stations at the library, directly across from the police station. He said he expects the first additional station to be installed in the coming months.
Cathy Alfandre, a member of the task force, said the group plans to continue seeking grants and incentives to expand EV infrastructure in Easton and help reduce pollution and emissions in the community.
The task force has held an annual electric vehicle show at the Easton Public Library for years.
Alfandre said she’s glad the police department is committed to cleaner transportation.
