States Get Early Green Light to Spend Federal EV Funds
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Dozens of states from coast to coast will have early access to their share of $900 million in electric vehicle infrastructure funds thanks to the U.S. Department of Energy’s early approval of plans to locate chargers on more than 53,000 highway miles throughout the country.
DOT announced its early approval Sept. 14 of 35 EV infrastructure deployment plans from states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico for fiscal 2022 to 2023 funding under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, which makes $5 billion available for a five-year period.
“With the first set of approvals we are announcing today, 35 states across the country — with Democratic and Republican governors — will be moving forward to use these funds to install EV chargers at regular, reliable intervals along their highways,” said Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, adding that the goal is to make finding EV charging sites “as easy as locating a gas station.”
Buttigieg
NEVI funds will enable states to deploy EV chargers along designated alternative fuel corridors to establish an interconnected EV charging network across the country. Each state was required to submit an EV infrastructure deployment plan to the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation by Aug. 1, with approval to be granted by the Federal Highway Administration.
States with approved plans are: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Tennessee, Utah, Washington and Wisconsin.
FHWA, in coordination with the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, is reviewing and approving state plans on a rolling basis. Once plans are approved, state transportation departments can access their NEVI funds. The Joint Office will establish and maintain a public database with EV charging station locations and potential sites.
We're pleased to announce that 35 EV charging plans from states, D.C. and Puerto Rico were approved ahead of schedule. https://t.co/zAkb0mi3P4 — TransportationGov (@USDOT) September 14, 2022
“We are reviewing the remaining plans and on track to finish the process by our target date of Sept. 30, if not sooner,” commented Stephanie Pollack, acting FHWA administrator. “Our shared work to bring President [Joe] Biden’s vision for a national electric vehicle network to communities across America is too important to wait.”
Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said those with approved plans “now have the green light to build their pieces of the national charging network to ensure drivers can spend less on transportation costs while commuting confidently by charging along the way,” while improving the environment and lowering dependence on oil and gas.
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