The first four electric vehicle (EV) charging sites under the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Driving a Cleaner Illinois program have opened, IEPA Interim Director James Jennings announced on Wednesday. Sites include chargers at three Casey’s locations installed by grantee Francis Energy and one Fas Mart convenience store installed by grantee GPM Midwest.
The 16 total charging ports are in Beach Park, Le Roy, South Beloit and Troy, Illinois. The four new sites represent the first of more than 2,600 public DC fast charge and Level 2 ports the IEPA plans to deploy across the state.
“Here in Illinois, we are excited to continue the build out of our electric vehicle charging network to support the transition to zero-emission vehicles,” said Jennings. “The Driving a Cleaner Illinois program addresses gaps in the current EV charging network to assure that electric vehicles remain a choice for motorists across Illinois.”
In June 2023, the IEPA granted Tulsa, Oklahoma-based Francis Energy, owner of a major nationwide EV charging network, funds to build and operate three new charging stations in high-traffic areas along the state’s highways.
Francis Energy has opened EV charging ports at Casey’s General Stores locations at 39131 N. Sheridan Road, Beach Park; 417 S. Chestnut St., Le Roy; and 440 Edwardsville Road, Troy.
GPM Midwest has opened EV charging ports at its FasMart c-store at 15766 Manchester Road, South Beloit.
Under the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA), the state of Illinois aims to deploy one million EVs on the road by 2030. The IEPA has already awarded or is in the process of awarding a total of $82.6 million in grants to build DC fast chargers and Level 2 chargers at public locations, including hotels, shopping centers and gas stations. Of these public charging ports, approximately 2,000 will be DC fast charge and 600 will be Level 2.
- Casey’s General Stores is No. 3 on CSP’s 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. GPM Investments is No. 6.
Casey’s General Stores, Ankeny, Iowa, operates more than 2,650 convenience stores in the greater Midwest under the Casey’s and GoodStop brands and in Texas under the Lone Star brand.
GPM Investments is a wholly owned subsidiary of Arko Corp., Richmond, Virginia. It has 1,543 convenience stores under more than 25 regional store brands, including Fas Mart.
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