Resources:
Lee Van Roth's Feature Article: Ypsi venue opens solar-powered electric vehicle chargers for free use
Ypsi Performance Space (The YPSI)
Transcription:
Lee Van Roth: You're listening to 89.1 WEMU. I'm Lee Van Roth, and this is On the Ground Ypsi. Earlier this year, the Ypsilanti Performance Space on Adams Street began operating solar-powered electric vehicle chargers--free to use, available around the clock, and designed to keep working even when the power goes out. The project builds on years of sustainability work at the Ypsi, while also responding directly to needs in the surrounding neighborhood, from EV drivers without access to home charging to residents navigating power outages and extreme weather. Joining me today is Steve Pierce, the operator of the Ypsi Performance Base, to talk about how this project came together and what it's already changing locally. Steve, welcome! Thank you so much for being here today!
Steve Pierce: Thanks for having me!
Lee Van Roth: So, to start off, when you walk past or drive past the Ypsi, I think the first thing you see is the big solar array that is up on top. And now, you have these super high-tech, interesting-looking EV chargers. Why was this sort of route to sustainability one that you wanted to take with a music venue?
Steve Pierce: Well, to create a sustainable music venue, we needed one that could be affordable. And I never thought that we would test it during COVID, but the EV panels that we had installed in 2018 when we first started the Ypsilanti Performance Space, they reduced our bill from $600 a month to about $60 a month for electricity.
Lee Van Roth: Wow!
Steve Pierce: And so, that's economic sustainability. We didn't think we'd test it during COVID, but we did and we survived. And so, this has been an important part of the Ypsilanti Performance Space. It's green technology and how we can reduce our costs and make a difference in the community. And so, the one of the things that we did in 2018 is we put in an EV charger, and it turned out it was the only EV charger that was available for public use in the entire city for like six years. And we saw a lot of use. And so, that got us thinking about what else could we do for the community.
Lee Van Roth: And these new chargers, there are four of them?
Steve Pierce: Correct. So, there's four EV...they call them EV arcs. They're made by a company called Beam Global, an American company out of San Diego. And there's four of these units, and you'll see them. They're large, sort of white with the solar panels. And then, each EV charger, or beam EV arc, has two EV chargers. So, there are a total of eight chargers.
Lee Van Roth: And this is also coming after a pretty significant power outage just a couple of years ago right around the Ypsi. Can you tell us a little bit about that?
Steve Pierce: Yeah, that was back in 2023. Our neighborhood, we're on North Adams, just between EMU and the downtown. And we suffer from a terrible number of power outages each year. And there was really a pretty harsh one about, it was been 2023. And we were without power for three days. And people might remember Go! Ice Cream had six or seven generators outside trying to keep their ice cream freezers from melting. And we had people stop by who wanted to charge their bicycle or charge their scooter or a laptop because they saw that we had solar panels. But our solar panel systems are tied into the grid, so when the grid goes down, we don't have power either. But that was sort of a wake-up call that there's a need here to have power when the power's out.
Lee Van Roth: This specific effort toward sustainability and to provide this very specific resource to the community as well comes from a grant that you had received as well from...
Steve Pierce: It was from the Michigan Public Service Commission.
Lee Van Roth: Yes, and that came about from a conversation with a local grassroots non-profit, Solar Ypsi..
Steve Pierce: Yes, you're talking about Dave Strenski and SolarYpsi.
Lee Van Roth: Yes.
Steve Pierce: Solar Ypsi is sort of interesting, or at least for me, they're not a non-profit. It's just a community group of people who are really active in wanting to promote solar in our community. And Ypsilanti has one of the highest concentrations of solar installations anywhere in the country. And a large part of that is due to Dave Strenski's work. And so, Dave had been working with another nonprofit out of San Diego, and they had passed along this information about Beam Global with these new solar-powered EV chargers. Now, these have solar panels, they have batteries, they come on the back of a semi, they set them down, fold out the wings, and turn the power on. And they're fully self-contained, they're not bolted to the ground or anything. They're really heavy. They weigh about 10,000 pounds. And you have--poof!--instant EV charging. And we both looked at that and said, "Well, that's cool technology," and didn't give much thought of that. And then about a year later, we saw that the MPSC was putting out grants for solar and EV projects. And so, we pitched the idea of doing EV charging at the Ypsilanti Performance Space. But there was a lot of sort of pushback because they were looking at high-speed EV charging that might charge a car in 30 minutes. And that's not what we saw a need for in Ypsilanti. We saw a lot of people who live in the community. 60% of our housing is rentals, and most of the housing is older than 1920. They just can't put an EV charger in these old homes without significant electrical upgrades. And we knew that there was a lot of people charging because we'd been running this one EV charger and then two for six years. And so, there was clearly a demand. And so, we said, "Well, could we do this?" And we pitched it to MPSC, and, to our surprise, they said yes. And so, that started that work last summer, and we just wrapped it up in December. And so now, they're fully open.
Lee Van Roth: And you've mentioned since opening, they've seen a good amount of use so far as well.
Steve Pierce: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Lee Van Roth: I'm wondering if there are any interesting conversations or things you've had with folks that have, either come by to get a quick charge, or if they need help charging up something--something else that's not a car. What are these conversations with the community looking like now that these are open?
Steve Pierce: You know, you get to meet your neighbors. And so, not only can you charge your cars, but there's outlets there that you can plug in a scooter or an e-bike. And they just plug them in. And I met a guy who was charging up one day, and I said, "Well, how'd you find us?" And he said that he was talking to one of the folks at the AAATA station, the bus station, just a block down. And he was bemoaning the fact that he didn't have a place where he could charge up his E-bike before he got on the bus. And the person at the AAATA station said, "Well, go up to the Ypsi Performance Space. They've got chargers up there." And I got to talk to him, and he's an amazing DIY guy who's hot-rodded his E bike.
Lee Van Roth: Oh wow!
Steve Pierce: It's sort of the Detroit thing and he got it to 30 or 40 miles an hour. And it was just an incredible conversation with somebody that most people just ignored.
Lee Van Roth: This is On the Ground Ypsi on 89.1 WEMU. I'm Lee Van Roth, continuing my conversation with Steve Pierce from the Ypsi Performance Space. So, Steve, you had mentioned beyond things just like charging a vehicle or powering up these really wonderful events that the Ypsi is pretty much known for, I would assume. There's also a lot of the possibility that we have discussed as far as continuing to provide more resources and aid to the community. Was that something that was kind of on your mind when putting this plan together or was that kind of a happy...
Steve Pierce: Bonus?
Lee Van Roth: Happy bonus. Yeah, I think that's a good way to put it.
Steve Pierce: You know, there really was a plan behind this, because my wife and I lived here in the community for some 25 years. And there's just an incredible array of people that are here and people you just talk to. And they'll say, "You know? I wish I could." And I think that came along when when we started a number of years ago Wireless Ypsi and providing free Wi-Fi in the downtown area. And we still do that at the Ypsi Performance Space. And so people said, "You know? I wish I could charge up my phone. I wish I can charge up my computer." So why not? I mean, it doesn't really take us anything more to be able to do that. We want to do these systems. The solar panels provide additional power for our building when they're not used. It really is simple to be able to make these services and things like EV charging and e-bike charging available to the community. And it also creates a destination, and it's easy to say, "Where are you located?" So we're right on North Adams, and that's where all the solar panels are. And people say, "Oh yeah! I know where that is!" So, yeah, it's about marketing, but it was purposeful because we should really be looking at how we can take care of our neighbors and, more importantly, how our neighbors can take care of us. That's what's been so exciting about this project. There's been many people that work on it. We've talked about Dave, but the Methodist Church right next door has been an incredible partner and so helpful in working on this. Brian Foley, a local electrician, has been incredible. The city has been a wonderful partner. And so, there's been so many people who have helped us get to be able to do this. And now, I'm just excited about what's the next step.
Lee Van Roth: Are there any other exciting changes in the pipeline that you can give us a teaser for?
Steve Pierce: Well, we're still working on heat in the concert hall. That's the thing that everyone keeps asking us. When are we going get there? But as far as events that are coming along, we've got a Brevity Shakespeare that's coming up. We've got, in the Concert Hall, when it's neither too hot or too cold, May is a perfect time, and again September. So, we've a couple of music shows coming up in May. And then, as we talked about before, looking to doing some new programming out in the parking lot with the EV chargers and the brand new paved parking lot for the summer. So, those are some of the things that we've got cooking this year.
Lee Van Roth: Steve, thank you so much for taking the time to talk with us today! This is such a cool resource, not just in the way it's helping out the community, but, I mean, just a cool resource to look at when you're walking by. So, what an exciting development over at the Ypsi, and we're very excited to see what's to come!
Steve Pierce: Thanks! Thanks for having me!
Lee Van Roth: For more on today's conversation and a link to the full article, visit our website at WEMU.org. On The Ground Ypsi is brought to you in partnership with Concentrate Media. I'm Lee Van Roth, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti.
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