A church in New England promotes sustainability, including EVs 

By Ed Fanjoy: Member, New England Electric Auto Association

I’m a longtime member of the First United Methodist Church (FUMC) of Westborough, Massachusetts, where we believe we must do our part to steward the earth. We’re hopeful that more congregations across the country will soon take up that call — like installing electric vehicle (EV) charging as some are already doing.

"We feel that as inheritors of God's gift, we have a responsibility to Him as well as to our fellow man,” said John Taylor, our head pastor at FUMC. “We're hoping that people will see our ‘Fueled by Faith’ message and realize we are all connected in the need for this important mission.”

"There are 550 Methodist churches in New England alone, each offering hope through Christ's love,” Taylor continued. “How great would it be if each of those churches offered a way to tap into that hope just as an EV can tap into the grid. Suppose all houses of worship did this! What a boon!"

Going back over a decade

In 2010, Wooden Cross Lutheran in Woodinville, Washington became the first church to install an EV charger. While most churches have active environmental committees, only a few have followed Wooden Cross’s lead. Two of the most recent charger installations were at the East Chestnut Street Mennonite Church of Lancaster, Pennsylvania, and Second Presbyterian Church of Little Rock, Arkansas. 

FUMC installed our JuiceBar commercial-grade charger in June, making it available to the public for free. The 40 amp Level 2 dual-port unit pulls at a healthy 8.3 kWh. The contractor, Firefly EES, granted our application for free site prep (approximately $10,000 in savings), and National Grid, our utility company, as well as the Massachusetts Department of Energy Resources, discounted fees for our EVSE service equipment from $17,000 to $3,000. All we had to do in exchange was to guarantee that the unit be available to the public 24/7. 

So far, donations and overstay fees have covered the $22 per month cost of the AmpUp software and power from the grid. To start "fueling", a simple QR code connects the user. No messy, hard-to-read screens. The charger software notifies the church when the unit is in use and identifies the user's email address. It also calculates and displays the amount of carbon sequestered due to each charge. 

A natural fit

“Churches are just a great place to install chargers,” Taylor said. “It’s not just the services on Sundays. Churches have prayer meetings, bible studies, charity events, Twelve Step meetings… at all hours of the day and night. They all require a time commitment where folks could be charging.”

Over his 35-year career, Pastor Taylor has served in both urban and rural churches, but the one thing they have had in common is a large parking lot. “We’re doing our best to scale those down,” he said, citing other future sustainability initiatives as well. 

The New England Electric Auto Association is holding the first National Drive Electric Week event in the area at FUMC on Saturday, September 25. If you're in New England, stop by!