Going green may mean a new way of earning some green for Bowling Green-based Warren Rural Electric Cooperative Corp.

Member-owned WRECC has joined with the Tennessee Valley Authority’s Fast Charge Network that is establishing electric-vehicle charging stations across TVA’s seven-state service area.

The first two EV “fast chargers” in WRECC’s service area were unveiled Wednesday during a ribbon-cutting at a Huck’s convenience store near the Wendell H. Ford Western Kentucky Parkway in Ohio County.

It wasn’t the first foray into EV charging for WRECC, which has a charging station at its headquarters on Fairview Avenue and another at its office in Leitchfield, but the two Ohio County stations are more modern.

“They’re the fastest chargers available,” said DeWayne McDonald, WRECC’s president and CEO. “There are a lot of variables to how fast it is, but our understanding is that it will be 15 to 20 minutes. That’s what we’re hearing.”

Its partnership with TVA could lead to several more of the fast chargers being installed in the WRECC service area as TVA plans for an increase in EVs on the nation’s roads.

McDonald said the first two are in a good spot.

“The West Kentucky Parkway is an important link between the widely travelled I-65 and I-69 interstate highways,” McDonald said. “This installation provides a charging option between these two important interstates. EV travelers now have better access to final destinations throughout the United States, including major destinations in the Midwest and southern United States.”

More of the fast charging stations are coming, with Edison Electric estimating that more than 100,000 such stations will be needed to support the projected 22 million electric vehicles that are expected to be on U.S. roads by 2030.

The federal infrastructure bill should help local utilities like WRECC, providing $7.5 billion to help accelerate EV adoption and build a nationwide network of charging stations.

McDonald, though, said WRECC has no specific plans for more of the charging stations.

“We’re looking and trying to plan,” he said. “We don’t have anything on the schedule yet.”

The charging stations at which EV drivers generally pay for the juice through a smartphone app are still in their infancy, but McDonald likes what he has seen so far.

“We’re off the interstate (at WRECC’s Fairview headquarters), but it (charging station) is being utilized,” he said. “We see some local people and some from out of state. Charging stations can bring people into your community.”

While the push for EVs by all automobile manufacturers and the resulting need for charging stations is driven by the need to reduce carbon emissions, TVA EnergyRight Vice President Cindy Herron pointed to other advantages.

“Taking a leadership role in EV charging infrastructure allows TVA to save drivers money and attract good jobs and tourism,” Herron said in a news release.

The transition to EVs is close to home, with Bowling Green’s General Motors Corvette Assembly Plant gearing up to produce a battery-powered version of the sports car, but McDonald said WRECC isn’t ready to hit the gas on more charging stations just yet.

“We want to gain data as this transition happens,” he said. “That will help us understand what impact it’s going to have on our distribution system.”