A nearly $112,000 grant from the Oregon Clean Fuels Program and Pacific Power has brought new electric vehicle-charging infrastructure to Central Oregon, with four charging ports recently installed by grantee Central Oregon Community College (COCC) at its Bend and Prineville campuses, free and open to the public.
Two level-two ports are now available at the college’s Bend campus, located on the north side of Newberry Hall, and two are located on the east side of the Prineville campus parking lot. In all, COCC now has 12 level-two charging ports across its four campuses, adding to preexisting charging stations at the Redmond and Madras campuses.
“This focus on electric vehicles and EV infrastructure for Central Oregon is part of COCC’s greater mission to prioritize sustainability initiatives,” said Noelle Bell Copley, sustainability coordinator at COCC. “COCC is working to strategically reduce our carbon footprint, and we are proud to be part of statewide and community-level work that’s doing the same.”
Provided by the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality and Pacific Power, the Oregon Clean Fuels electric mobility grant also made funds available to help COCC acquire three electric vehicles for staff work trips and student learning. The grant also allowed COCC to hire a temporary student worker to offer EV outreach and education to the community through the local nonprofit 350Deschutes.
Additional sustainability efforts at the college — which greatly expanded with the signing of a higher education “carbon commitment” climate pledge by COCC president Laurie Chesley in 2022 — include a student-and-staff sustainability committee, climate action team workshops, energy-efficiency and waste-reduction projects, and an ongoing campus-wide greenhouse gas inventory. Among its climate-oriented curriculum, COCC provides hybrid-electric automotive training and is playing a key role in developing national certification standards for EV technicians.
