Four County EMC opens first EV charging station in Bladen County

ELIZABETHTOWN — Four County Electric Membership Cooperative cut the ribbon Wednesday on Bladen County’s first electric vehicle charging station.

Kenneth Thornton Jr. and Ronald Allen, members of the Board of Directors, did the honors following remarks from Don Gatton, the chief executive officer of Four County; Diane Huis, the senior vice president of innovation and development; and Dane Rideout, the town manager in Elizabethtown.

The charging station is in front of the Elizabethtown office of Four County, at 2668 N.C. 242. This is less than a mile off U.S. 701, and the Mac Campbell Highway section of N.C. 87 that bypasses Elizabethtown.

Huis, in remarks to dozens assembled, said the N.C. Electric Cooperatives EV Charging Network has 78 chargers and 129 ports that have served 4,400 unique users from North Carolina and 18 other states. She said growth in EV registrations in co-op territory from January 2020 to February 2021 was 50 percent.

Rideout said the new location helps fill in a doughnut hole between stations that are in Lumberton, Fayetteville and Wilmington.