Photo courtesy of Guarantee Electrical
Guarantee Electrical, St. Louis, installed Tesla charging stations in a parking garage at a Streets of St. Charles (Mo.) mixed-use development in 2020.
Guarantee Electrical, St. Louis, installed Tesla charging stations in a parking garage at a Streets of St. Charles (Mo.) mixed-use development in 2020.
Guarantee Electrical, St. Louis, installed Tesla charging stations in a parking garage at a Streets of St. Charles (Mo.) mixed-use development in 2020.
Guarantee Electrical, St. Louis, installed Tesla charging stations in a parking garage at a Streets of St. Charles (Mo.) mixed-use development in 2020.
Guarantee Electrical, St. Louis, installed Tesla charging stations in a parking garage at a Streets of St. Charles (Mo.) mixed-use development in 2020.

EV Installations Offer New Revenue Streams for Electrical Contractors

Feb. 2, 2021
St. Louis-area group brings electrical contractor expertise to utility program subsidizing commercial electric vehicle charger installations.

 A group of St. Louis-area electrical contractors has signed on to assist a Missouri utility launch its new program incentivizing commercial installations of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

Electrical Connection, a partnership of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) Local 1 and the St. Louis Chapter of the National Electrical Contractors Association (NECA), announced in late January that members were offering a turn-key service to help business customers of Ameren Missouri take advantage of the utility’s offer of financial assistance for installing charging stations.

Jim Curran, Electrical Connection’s executive vice president, says the group saw an opportunity to leverage specific knowledge some member contractors have gained through participation in an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program Electrical Connection has maintained for a decade. Member contractors who engage with interested Ameren customers will assist with everything from paperwork and site planning to engineering and installation.

“We approached them and said that with your program to encourage installations and our contractors’ training and knowledge, let’s work together to reach out to municipalities and businesses with some assistance,” Curran says. “We have a lot already in place to be a one-stop shop, so [we said] come to us and let us do all of the work.”

Interested contractors will field inquiries from Ameren customers, pursue leads provided by the utility, and educate their own customers about the rebate program. To help market Ameren’s program to the business community, Electrical Connection staff joined Ameren in a webinar presented last November by St. Charles County (Mo.) Economic Development Center. To help move it along, an Electrical Connection member contractor, RJP Electric, St. Louis, installed a dual-port charging station at an EDC property free of charge.

RJP and other Electrical Connection members were making headway in the EV charging market before Ameren’s announcement. For example, Guarantee Electrical, St. Louis, has been active in the area charging station market and anticipates more opportunities to emerge through the Ameren partnership, says Dena Schmidt, energy solutions project manager for the electrical contracting firm.

“We’re committed to help get the word out about the Ameren program because the more charging stations the better for the environment,” she says. “We’ve been a top trade ally for Ameren for a number of years, and we wanted to be a partner on this as well.”

The company’s work has included a bid on a 50-station project for a corporate campus in St. Louis and a completed installation for a downtown St. Charles mixed-use development.

The Electrical Connection initiative to position Guarantee and other electrical contractors for opportunities in the EV market signals that the market holds promise as a source of sustained business for well-placed contractors. The nation’s charging infrastructure will have to be built out to support continued growth of the electric vehicle market, a proposition boosted by General Motors’ recent announcement to go all-electric by 2025. The path ahead, though, is complex, with many moving parts needing to align, but there’s little doubt that over time, charging stations designed and built with electrical expertise will be sprouting up from coast to coast.

 Zind is a freelance writer based in Lees Summit, Mo. He can be reached at [email protected].

About the Author

Tom Zind | Freelance Writer

Zind is a freelance writer based in Lee’s Summit, Mo. He can be reached at [email protected].

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