For years, Tumwater WA was known mainly for being the home of the Olympia Beer Brewery, you'd heard it in their ads. The other thing it's known for? Cloudy days.

 Tumwater raises eyebrows by installing a solar-powered charging station

 The Center Square and other sources are reporting Tumwater city officials have installed a solar-powered EV charging station in town.

In June the City Council voted unanimously to install a test project, the solar-powered EV charging station known as the EV ARC system, which will have two charging ports for vehicles. It will be located at the City's Pioneer Park.

It will also have the ability to charge up electric wheelchairs and electric bikes. It's a pilot program, said officials.

According to The Center Square:

"To fund the charger, the Washington State Department of Commerce awarded Tumwater an $87,052 grant, which includes pre-paying for six years of operation, maintenance, and warranty.

The city matched that grant with $12,742 from its General Fund allocation for Sustainability Initiatives."

The charging station will be free to use, but after six years the city might have to add a fee, once the grant funding and others expire. However, the weather could be a factor as well.

Tumwater, according to National Weather Service (NWS) data, averages only 137 what could be considered sunny days a year, meaning the other 248 are considered cloudy or overcast. Todd Meyers of the Washington Policy Center says those weather conditions will render the project far less effective, saying in part:

 “In winter, it’s going to be basically useless because days are short and cloudy,. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory says that western Washington is literally the worst place in the continental United States for solar energy.”

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