Mitchell City Council approves Fifth and Rowley parking lot for EV charging stations

Nov. 7—MITCHELL — An energy company was given the green light Monday to install four electric vehicle charging stations at a parking lot in downtown Mitchell.

After being denied its first attempt to install EV chargers at a frequently used parking lot, Northwestern Energy found a new spot for the Mitchell City Council to consider. The parking lot along the corner of Fifth Avenue and Rowley Street emerged as the new location to install the chargers, which was approved by the council on Monday night.

According to City Attorney Justin Johnson, eight parking spots will be dedicated for EV charging.

"Out of those ones that were identified, the one that worked best would have been at the Fifth and Rowely parking lot," Johnson said.

Due to the frequent use of the parking spots at the previously proposed location at the corner of Seventh Avenue and Rowley Street, the council couldn't get behind dedicating eight spots at a parking lot that many downtown shoppers and Corn Palace eventgoers utilize throughout the year. However, the council unanimously supported the Fifth Avenue and Main Street location.

At the September council meeting when the council postponed a decision on the first proposed EV charging station location, Aaron Fox, a Northwestern Energy official, explained proximity of businesses and commerce, accessibility and visibility are key factors that dictate where charging stations would be a fit. Like the previous proposed location, the parking lot that will welcome the EV chargers is within a block of the Corn Palace in the heart of downtown Mitchell.

"The objective is people would park near the Corn Palace to charge their EVs and go to the retail stores near there," Fox said during the September meeting.

The city and Northwestern Energy are partnering for the rollout of the EV chargers. The city also owns the Fifth Avenue and Rowley Street parking lot.

As of now, Mitchell has a few Tesla charging stations and other chargers at local auto dealerships.

While city leaders have been working to bring more EV chargers to Mitchell, EVs have been slow to take off in the area. According to the South Dakota Department of Transportation, there are about 1,400 registered EVs in the state.

While EVs haven't taken off in South Dakota like some other states have seen in recent years such as areas in warmer climates in the southwest portion of the country, the state has set out to spearhead the implementation of EV infrastructure in the form of charging stations over the past year.

Fox previously explained Mitchell is a key city for the rollout of EV infrastructure considering there are "no charging stations" from Sioux Falls to the Rapid City area. Chamberlain, Murdo and Wall are the only towns along Interstate 90 with chargers between Mitchell and Rapid City, and the state only has 59 public charging stations in total, according to the state's EV Fast Charging Plan.

"We are looking at these corridors to get people across the state, and here we are looking at Mitchell, which has a tourist attraction," Fox said during the September meeting.

Northwestern Energy officials have indicated most EVs take about 20 minutes to charge.