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Fort Payne, Alabama, launches first of 80 rapid rechargers planned in the Tennessee Valley

Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Jeannette Mills, TVA Executive Vice President and Chief External Relations Officers talks about the Agency's Electric Vehicle Initiative. Fort Payne Improvement Authority dedicated the first of what will be 80 fast-charging stations backed by TVA across the valley to help promote electric vehicles. The ceremony took place on January 25, 2022
Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Jeannette Mills, TVA Executive Vice President and Chief External Relations Officers talks about the Agency's Electric Vehicle Initiative. Fort Payne Improvement Authority dedicated the first of what will be 80 fast-charging stations backed by TVA across the valley to help promote electric vehicles. The ceremony took place on January 25, 2022 Staff Photo by Robin Rudd / Jeannette Mills, TVA Executive Vice President and Chief External Relations Officers talks about the Agency's Electric Vehicle Initiative. Fort Payne Improvement Authority dedicated the first of what will be 80 fast-charging stations backed by TVA across the valley to help promote electric vehicles. The ceremony took place on January 25, 2022

By Dave Flessner 6 min read

FORT PAYNE, Ala. – To keep pace with a projected tenfold increase in electric vehicles on the road in the Tennessee Valley in the next six years, the first of 80 fast recharging stations promised by the Tennessee Valley Authority began operation here Tuesday.

Fort Payne’s municipal power utility, backed by state and TVA grants, hopes to lure EV users off Interstate 59 into downtown shops with a pair of fast-charging stations installed across from the city’s hosiery museum.

The rapid rechargers can boost most electric vehicle batteries from 20% to 80% power within 30 minutes and are being built within 50 miles of one another across most highways in TVA’s seven-state region as part of TVA’s Fast Charge Network.

“We have this desire to be progressive in moving our community forward to attract people to Fort Payne, and we’re proud to be the first community in Alabama to be able to offer these two public rapid recharging stations,” Mike Shirey, general manager for the Fort Payne Improvement Authority, said Tuesday during a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new recharging stations in downtown Fort Payne.

“We’re uniquely positioned along the I-59 corridor for people traveling south to the beaches along the Gulf Coast or for those going north as the gateway to the Appalachian Mountains. You can charge up your EV while having dinner or shopping at our great shops, and we’ll send you on your way.”