Are you ready for an electric vehicle? This OKC neighborhood is ready for hundreds of them
Richard Mize, The Oklahoman
4 min read
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company and Village Verde, a 480-acre neighborhood have teamed up to make sure all new homes in the eco-friendly subdivision will be fully electric vehicle (EV) ready. Village Verde general manager Kelly Parker evaluates the new infrastructure and equipment.
An EV charging station in every new home? Not quite, but every new home, around 800 in all, will be ready to charge electric vehicles in northwest Oklahoma City's already eco-friendly Village Verde neighborhood, after grid infrastructure upgrades in the newest section and those that follow.
Oklahoma Gas and Electric Co. teamed with developers of 480-acre Village Verde, west of Mustang Road and north of Northwest Expressway, to make sure all new homes in the subdivision are EV ready. The Oklahoma City addition has Yukon postal addresses and is in the Piedmont school district.
“It’s one thing to have a few people around the neighborhood decide they want to install 240-volt EV chargers in their garage,” said Village Verde general manager Kelly Parker. “But when we’re talking about 62 homes now and 700-800 more in the future sections, I knew we needed to reach out to OG&E to ensure we had the infrastructure in place to support the additional, future power needs.”
Upgrading its part of the electrical grid puts Village Verde in the forefront of the trend. EV Connect, an online provider of electric vehicle information, said including EV charging in construction is not as common as it should be considering customer demand for electric vehicles.
"The switch to electric will not only ramp up, it is already here. Building without considering EV charging will be an outdated process," EV Connect said.
Electric vehicles and EV chargers are 'convenient, cost-effective and eco-friendly,' Village Verde developer says
Solar panels are secured to the roof of a model home in Village Verde. The developer allows builders to find their own way to energy efficiency, specifically a Home Energy Rating System Index score of 70 or below.
"We plan to start building in there after we fill the current home sites with a few more families in our other Piedmont communities, Nichols Creek and Tuscany Lakes," said Lindsay Haltom, director of sales and marketing.
OG&E worked with Village Verde to ensure homeowners have access to a dedicated 240V power supply.
"EVs and EV chargers are convenient, cost-effective and eco-friendly. By ensuring our customers’ homes are EV ready, we're empowering them to minimize their environmental footprint and move toward a greener, cleaner future,” said Parker, who is also CEO of Guaranteed Watt Saver, a construction energy-efficiency consultancy.
Making new homes in OKC's Village Verde addition EV-ready is a fit for OG&E
Kelly Parker, CEO of Guaranteed Watt Saver, and a developer, is shown at the Village Verde neighborhood, designed and developed to be environmentally friendly, in northwest Oklahoma City.
It was a natural partnership for OG&E, said Aaron Cooper, manager of the utility's corporate communications.
“At OG&E, we want to help our customers save money while encouraging renewables and responsible use of the energy grid. This project with Village Verde checks all those boxes,” Cooper said. “This is the first time we have worked with a developer in Oklahoma City to ensure the new residents will have EV-ready homes.
"It’s exciting to help our customers find solutions that help meet their energy and environmental goals. We appreciate the opportunity to work with Village Verde on this innovative and unique development.”
It's just the latest innovation for energy-efficiency at Village Verde, which was meant to be as green as can be from the start of planning for it in 2006.
It is a long-term development project. Village Verde leases the property from the state Commissioners of the Land Office, which supports public education, and purchases a section as each one is completed, Parker said.
Oklahoma City Village Verde neighborhood was green from the start
Insulating concrete forms are being used at this house under construction in Village Verde.
Home builders can attain low HERS scores in different ways: better windows, better heating and air, better efficiency in lighting and appliances, for example.
Homes in the neighborhood are oriented to have south-facing roofs for maximum production of solar energy.
"We did not dig up the ground and put large pipes in to run the rainwater to a stream and ultimately to a river. We wanted to capture that rainwater and make it a pond and an amenity," Parker said then.
OG&E said its work in Village Verde is part of its "commitment to serving as a resource for EV customers," and pointed to its online EV calculator for people considering buying an electrical vehicle to determine potential fuel savings "and make informed decisions on EV investments."
“We couldn’t have made this happen without OG&E,” Parker said. “The electric company has stepped up to make our community a greener place to live, and we’re grateful to partner with such an impactful organization to set new standards in the sustainable housing industry.”
Village Verde general manager Kelly Parker evaluates the new infrastructure and equipment that will be installed by Oklahoma Gas and Electric Company at the site of the new section of Village Verde.
Senior Business Writer Richard Mize has covered housing, construction, commercial real estate and related topics for the newspaper and Oklahoman.com since 1999. Contact him at rmize@oklahoman.com. Sign up for his weekly newsletter, Real Estate with Richard Mize.You can support Richard's work, and that of his colleagues, by purchasing a digital subscription to The Oklahoman. Right now, you can get 6 months of subscriber-only access for $1.
