MidAmerican Energy Co., headquartered in Des Moines, announced on Wednesday its plan to establish a network of electric vehicle fast-charging stations throughout Iowa.

Fort Dodge was included in a list of 15 cities.

“Car owners and potential buyers tell us access to charging stations within reach of the routes they drive will improve their confidence the electric vehicle will meet their needs,” Nick Nation, electric operations general manager, said. “We’ve come up with a plan to address the range anxiety issue by building an infrastructure of 15 fast-charging stations across Iowa that should be within roughly 50 miles of each other. We think our efforts will help jump-start Iowa’s electric vehicle industry.”

Tina Hoffman, a spokesperson for MidAmerican, said each city was strategically selected.

“They are all within about 50 miles of each other,” she said.

MidAmerican plans to build publicly accessible direct current fast-charging stations in the selected cities. Each will have two charging plugs per station.

A DC fast-charger, also called a Level 3 charger, can charge an electric vehicle in 20 to 45 minutes, Hoffman said.

Depending on the model, electric cars can be driven between 150 miles and 250 miles per charge.

MidAmerican is accepting applications from businesses and community entities interested in hosting charging facilities.

Hoffman said those applications will remain open for about 30 days.

Once MidAmerican Energy selects site hosts, the company plans to begin building the charging network by the end of the year.

Hoffman said charging station hosts will set their own usage fees, consistent with state laws and regulations.

MidAmerican will purchase, install and maintain the charging facilities.

Hoffman said the company hopes to have at least one charging area in each of the selected communities.

The goal is to have about five of the 15 done by the end of the year, Hoffman reported.

In addition to Fort Dodge, other planned areas for fast-charging sites include: Altoona, Avoca, Carroll, Clarinda, Davenport, Dexter, Early, Emmetsburg, Iowa City, Little Sioux, Oskaloosa, Sheldon, Sioux City and Waterloo.

Each city is within MidAmerican’s service territory.

“We’re investing in a program that supports our customers by making emission-free driving more attractive and convenient,” Nation said. “This goes hand-in-hand with MidAmerican Energy’s vision to provide our customers with 100% clean, renewable energy.”