East Lyme ― Electric vehicle charging stations are popping up at multiple rental communities in town thanks to lucrative rebates encouraging landlords to participate in the electrification of transportation.

Installation projects over the past couple of months at Rocky Neck Village in Niantic and Gateway Commons in the Flanders section of town got in under the wire as part of the state EV Charging Program administered by Eversource Energy. The utility company last week announced it will be suspending the program in May due to recent regulatory decisions that “are calling into question the stability of the state’s support for EV funding.”

Rocky Neck Village is being reimbursed for $1.9 million of a $2.3 million project to install chargers at every townhome in the 56-unit development, according to an Eversource spokesman. At the Sound at Gateway Commons, two-thirds of a $300,000 project to install dual chargers at the clubhouse and in every parking lot will be reimbursed.

Numbers were not available for a similar project at the Cove at Gateway Commons, which is the townhome portion of the development.

Jacob Laster and Ari Eisenreich of Carlton Management, the firm behind the Gateway Commons residences, said the company is installing the units in most of its properties built since 2000 and some of its older ones. The company’s portfolio boasts numerous properties in New York and Connecticut.

“We’re not blinded by the way the world is moving, and the way the world is moving is toward electric vehicles,” Laster said.

He said tenants will be charged to use the units, which are installed and managed through a third-party company called Evium Charging.

“We have tenants that have electric vehicles that need to drive 5, 10, 15 minutes to charge their car,” he said. “We’re giving them the convenience right at their door.”

Eversource’s manager of electric mobility, Sean Tully, said the EV Charging Program has provided funds for charging stations at 200 multi-family developments in the state, including 140 in underserved communities.

The program was enacted in 2021 by the state Public Utilities Regulatory Authority with a focus on making electric vehicle charging stations available equitably across the state. Underserved communities are those where at least 30% of the population falls into the low-income category where a family of four, for example, makes less than $62,400 annually.

Rocky Neck Village is in an area designated as underserved by the state. Thirty-six units in the affordable housing development are reserved for families with household incomes between $28,675 and $68,820 for a family of four.

“The goal of PURA was to make sure that there’s also investment going into those facilities, to transform the electrification of transportation and make sure those folks don't get left behind,” he said.

He said most commuters in the state drive about 40 miles per day.

“The easiest place, the most cost effective place for them to charge is going to be at home,” he said. “They have a gas station at their home. They never had a fuel pump at their house, but they’re going to be able to replenish the range on their car every night.”

The suspension of Eversource’s EV Charging Program was announced April 18 by the company. It comes amid continuing wrangling with PURA about how the company is reimbursed for its participation in the program.

Doug Horton, vice president of distribution rates and regulatory requirements, in a news release said participating in the program without being able to recover costs in a timely manner “could place critically needed capital resources at risk.”

“The regulatory authority’s record of unreasonable, arbitrary decisions to deny reimbursements for costs incurred in good faith on behalf of customers is creating uncertainty and risk for new investments,” he said. “We are eager to resume our EV programs once PURA establishes a rate treatment that is supportive of these continued program outlays.”

The pause came a day after PURA authorized an 18.7% rate increase for the typical residential customer.

e.regan@theday.com