Drumlin Farm Unveils New Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

LINCOLN, MA— Visitors and staff at Mass Audubon’s Drumlin Farm Wildlife Sanctuary can now power their electric cars with two new electric vehicle charging stations, allowing for eco-friendly visits to the popular working farm and nature center. Leaders from Drumlin Farm, PowerOptions, and Eversource, along with local legislators and members of the community gathered today for a ribbon-cutting event to inaugurate the stations.

Each EVC station is capable of charging two cars, providing for up to four vehicles at a time. One station was donated by the nonprofit PowerOptions, New England’s largest energy buying consortium. Eversource paid for and coordinated the infrastructure improvements needed to power the stations.

“Drumlin Farm is proud to be making a difference in providing education and motivation for a healthier and sustainable world,” Sanctuary Director Renata Pomponi said. “With programs that reach more than 140,000 children and adults each year, we are excited about the opportunity to provide meaningful engagement and positive solutions around climate change, the critical environmental issue of our time.

"We are grateful for the donation from PowerOptions and the infrastructure support from Eversource to help us reach our goal of reducing our own carbon footprint and providing opportunities for our visitors to ‘drive green’ on their trips to the farm,” Pomponi said.

Drumlin Farm is one of 11 wildlife sanctuaries owned and managed by Mass Audubon, the state’s largest nature conservation nonprofit, that now have EV charging stations for public use. Other Mass Audubon wildlife sanctuaries include: Broadmoor (Natick), Boston Nature Center (Mattapan), Wellfleet Bay (Wellfleet), North River (Marshfield), Moose Hill (Sharon), Habitat (Belmont), Wachusett Meadow (Princeton), Arcadia (Northampton/Easthampton), Ipswich River (Topsfield), and Mass Audubon Headquarters (Lincoln).

“As more and more electric-powered vehicles are on the road, it increases the demand for charging stations at organizations that serve the public, like Drumlin Farm,” said PowerOptions President and CEO Cynthia Arcate. “PowerOptions has designed our EV Charger Program to help our members meet that demand in an accessible and affordable manner.”

PowerOptions’ EV Charger Program provides its members with a discounted price for equipment and software, as well as assistance from PowerOptions’ staff throughout the process, from siting and installation, to configuration and operation. Since 1998, PowerOptions has pursued its mission of saving nonprofits and public entities time and money on energy, so those institutions can direct more resources toward their own important missions.

“As a nonprofit ourselves, PowerOptions has always invested in our programs and services for members,” explained Arcate. “This donation to Drumlin Farm is another way of investing directly into our members’ missions and energy futures.”

Today’s event was also attended by officials from Horizon Energy Solutions, which handled the installation of the new stations.