Cheyenne, WY Electrify America

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nmuncy89

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Along the I-80 corridor. Located at Cheyenne's Target parking lot. Not right off the interstate unfortunately but just a block further than the Frontier Mall where the Tesla Supercharger has been for years. The address is: 1708 Dell Range Blvd, Cheyenne, WY 82009. Construction has not begun yet and there are no pictures or activity there yet.
 
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This site is currrently the record holder for longest under construction. Which is a shame because the charging stations have been sitting there on site for coming up on a year. What a waste! They will probably have to install new ones before these ever went into service!
 
lpickup said:
This site is currrently the record holder for longest under construction. Which is a shame because the charging stations have been sitting there on site for coming up on a year. What a waste! They will probably have to install new ones before these ever went into service!
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I am guessing that there is still no transformer at the site.
 
That certainly seems like the most likely culprit. And I can certainly understand supply chain constraints over the past few years, but this certainly seems excessive. I wonder why there is no priority here.
 
lpickup said:
That certainly seems like the most likely culprit. And I can certainly understand supply chain constraints over the past few years, but this certainly seems excessive. I wonder why there is no priority here.
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The local utility company is the one installing the transformer.

Electrify America can't take a transformer from one site and install it at another site.

What Electrify America should do is to wait until the transformer is installed before installing charging equipment.
 
Mockingbird said:
What Electrify America should do is to wait until the transformer is installed before installing charging equipment.
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Yes, of course, and hopefully they learned their lesson from this one (and other similar long-install times sites).

I understand the transformer is the responsibility of and owned by the utility (although I would imagine funding for it would come at least partially from EA).

What I don't understand is why Electrify America would apparently be having such a difficult time getting priority for this from the utility. Did they have a contract or at least a MOU in place when they initiated the project indicating when the utility expected to have a transformer on site (and if not, why not?) Have they gone to the state utilities commission to complain? How hard are they pressing them? Are there any other stakeholders that should be going to bat here?

Well, we know that Wyoming is not exactly EV friendly, so maybe reaching out to state government is a dead end. But you would actually think that the utility would be at least somewhat interested in promoting EVs!
 
lpickup said:
Yes, of course, and hopefully they learned their lesson from this one (and other similar long-install times sites).

I understand the transformer is the responsibility of and owned by the utility (although I would imagine funding for it would come at least partially from EA).

What I don't understand is why Electrify America would apparently be having such a difficult time getting priority for this from the utility. Did they have a contract or at least a MOU in place when they initiated the project indicating when the utility expected to have a transformer on site (and if not, why not?) Have they gone to the state utilities commission to complain? How hard are they pressing them? Are there any other stakeholders that should be going to bat here?

Well, we know that Wyoming is not exactly EV friendly, so maybe reaching out to state government is a dead end. But you would actually think that the utility would be at least somewhat interested in promoting EVs!
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There are brand new houses, supermarkets, etc. that don't have electricity because of the lack of transformers.

Unfortunately, I am guessing that charging stations are lower on the priority list.
 
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Mockingbird said:
There are brand new houses, supermarkets, etc. that don't have electricity because of the lack of transformers.
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I wonder how long is this going to remain an acceptable response/excuse?

I get that we are still coming out of the grips of a pandemic and associated economic slowdown & supply chain disruption, but at some point the inability to get transformers for 18 months or more indicates a serious problem. Especially in light of what appear to be successful rollouts by EA and other networks in other parts of the country, not to mention Wyoming itself where EA did successfully deploy 4 other sites in the past year. What's unique about this site?

And it still doesn't address the question that both you and I have raised: why did EA deploy the stations on site, and install them, without some kind of commitment on the part of the utility to provide a transformer on a timely basis? Was this just a major oversight? Pure apathy?
 
I drove by Target and it looks like something is happening. For months there's been no fence and no work being done. Today the cyclone fence is back up and the equipment in the picture is at the site. Meanwhile, the Harlet Davidson Chargepoint 24 kW CCS charger is operating after two years of being offline. While its painfully slow compared to what these will do when they are activated, presently it is the only functioning CCS charger in Cheyenne. I'll post an update if I see any changes.


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Alt-View1 said:
I drove by Target and it looks like something is happening. For months there's been no fence and no work being done. Today the cyclone fence is back up and the equipment in the picture is at the site. Meanwhile, the Harlet Davidson Chargepoint 24 kW CCS charger is operating after two years of being offline. While its painfully slow compared to what these will do when they are activated, presently it is the only functioning CCS charger in Cheyenne. I'll post an update if I see any changes.


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Has a transformer been installed on-site?

Previously, only the switchgear and the power cabinets were installed.
 
Mockingbird said:
Has a transformer been installed on-site?

Previously, only the switchgear and the power cabinets were installed.
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I stopped by today and briefly talked with the crew working on the project.They are removing the present chargers and replacing them with the newer versions. Their best guess is that it will go live in 30 - 45 days. The transformer (big green cabinet) has been there for several months.20230414_091021.jpg20230414_091005.jpg
 
Alt-View1 said:
I stopped by today and briefly talked with the crew working on the project.They are removing the present chargers and replacing them with the newer versions. Their best guess is that it will go live in 30 - 45 days. The transformer (big green cabinet) has been there for several months.View attachment 145View attachment 144
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The old power cabinets have already been removed.

They are definitely working on it.
 
Update: the old (never used) charging connectors have been removed. Major excavation work and new conduit layed in. Weather may limit work. I'll check back next week.20230428_093557.jpg20230428_131905.jpg
 
@Alt-View1 Thank you for the regular updates! They are much appreciated! I've been looking forward to getting from the Denver area up to the I-90 corridor in Montana, and this is the last stop preventing me from going. Did you get a chance to check it out this week? Any news? All the best!
 
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