Oak Park is the only community to receive a gold designation among the first 16 communities to complete the EV Readiness Program, according to the Village of Oak Park.
The program includes an EV Readiness Checklist with 131 possible actions. The gold designation indicates the participating community completed additional activities beyond the required 27 activities for bronze status. The program includes bronze, silver and gold recognitions. Twelve municipalities were recognized at an awards event for their work to become an “EV Ready Community,” meaning they met at least the bronze level.
Oak Park is among other communities that have recently adopted policies to increase EV charging in new construction projects, according to the village website. The Village of Oak Park website also includes information on electric vehicles and charging stations.
Oak Park has several public charging stations, the locations for which can be found online, but the village also has a “green fleet” to reduce the carbon footprint of vehicles required to deliver public services, according to its website. For example, the village uses five electric sedans, in addition to other vehicles, for employees who regularly need to drive around Oak Park. The village also employs 24 hybrid vehicles and most of its heavy-duty equipment, such as fire trucks and snowplows, with lower-emission diesel fuel.
Municipalities were expected to complete several actions, including updating zoning codes for charging infrastructure, implementing new permitting and inspection processes for safe installation of charging equipment and training first responders on how to respond to electric vehicle incidents, according to the village website.
The EV Readiness Program was created by the Commonwealth Edison Company, or ComEd, and the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus with the intention of helping local communities prepare for more electric vehicles and increased demand for charging infrastructure. Municipalities were invited to participate in the program in the fall of 2022, according to the Metropolitan Mayors Caucus website.
Climate Ready Oak Park lays out goals for the village, including achieving a 60% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2050.
“Achieving this EV Ready Community designation at the Gold level is a tremendous recognition and it further underscores the comprehensive steps we have taken to reduce emissions from transportation and reach our goals,” said village president Vicki Scaman in a village news release.
According to Business Wire, almost 88,000 electric vehicles are registered in Illinois, the vast majority in northern Illinois.
“ComEd is committed to working with communities across the state and the region to accelerate the adoption of EVs – which are proven to lower emissions and create cleaner air for our communities,” said Louie Binswanger, ComEd senior vice president of governmental regulatory and external affairs, in the release.