The Charge Up Fairfax Program, a county initiative to get more electric vehicle chargers in residential neighborhoods, installed its first chargers in the Harpers Square cluster in Reston.
This countywide project, first announced by the Office of Environmental and Energy Coordination (OEEC) in 2023, aims to assist housing and neighborhood associations in completing the process of installing EV chargers.
Harpers Square was the first community to successfully complete the program, with a ribbon cutting ceremony on December 18; the Penderbrook Community Association in Fairfax followed shortly after, according to a news release from the OEEC.
“There’s definitely a lot of excitement,” said Stan Beyderman, president of the Harpers Square Cluster Association, which installed two new stations. “People are eager to start using them. I think that we’re going to start seeing a lot more electric vehicles appear in our cluster because I think up to this point it’s really been the limiting factor that people haven’t been able to charge their cars at home.”
Throughout the process, the county provides support from the early stages of assessing the site, through the permitting, installation, and inspection processes, and even offers some grants to offset the cost of installation.
This initiative is part of the county-wide goal to achieve carbon-neutrality by 2050, by supporting the use of electric and hybrid vehicles, according to the OEEC.
The OEEC also announced four new communities that will participate in Charge Up Fairfax: Lakepointe Community Council Homeowners Association, Windsor Park Homeowners Association, Midtown North Condominium Unit Owners Association, and Encore of McLean Condominium Unit Owners Association.
In total, 16 communities have been selected to participate in Charge Up Fairfax so far.
“We are thrilled to welcome these four communities into the Charge Up Fairfax program,” said OEEC Director John Morrill. “By expanding the network of EV charging infrastructure close to home, we are fostering a greener future and making it easier for residents to embrace electric vehicles, which produce no tailpipe emissions and are better for the environment.”
The next round of community applications opens in spring 2025.
Feature image, stock.adobe.com
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