SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (CAPITOL CITY NOW) – People who drive electric vehicles in Springfield have forty public charging stations at their service. City leaders and partners held a ribbon-cutting Monday afternoon.

“Electrification is coming,” said Matt Heyen of Hanson Professional Services. “I know with all the gas prices everybody’s seeing now how important that opportunity is.”

Mayor Misty Buscher (pictured, at mic) said the downtown stations carry an economic benefit. “Someone who stops to charge will have lunch, visit local shops, or enjoy one of Springfield’s many attractions while they’re downtown.”

Drivers will pay 26 cents per kilowatt hour. That could be about $26 for a charge that would take you 300-400 miles.

A $629,000 state grant is helping the project.

The forty stations are in the following nine locations, said City Water, Light, and Power:

• University of Illinois Springfield Lot I
• Parkway Pointe, 3400 block of Freedom Drive
• W. Wabash Avenue and Drawbridge Road
• W. Wabash Avenue and S. Park Avenue at Wabash Trail Parking
• Municipal Center West, Monroe Street
• BOS Center, Washington Street
• Lincoln Home National Historic Site, 7th & Edwards Streets
• Y block, 4th & 5th Streets
• Old State Capitol, 5th & Washington Streets