Cities awarded funding for electric vehicle charging stations

The Washington State Department of Commerce (COM) has awarded $9.8 million in Electrification of Transportation Systems (ETS) grants for 14 projects located in cities across the state.

These grant awards follow an initial round of 37 applications totaling $25 million in requests for funding, according to COM.

The agency says that priority was given to projects designed to close gaps in availability of EV charging infrastructure and aid communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and pollution from transportation systems.

The grants will come out of the state’s Clean Energy Fund. In total, COM says that the projects will result in over 320 new plugs in 11 counties installing Level 2 charging stations.

Here are the proposed projects that were awarded grants:

• City of Anacortes – $28,804 for the installation of level 2 chargers for public and fleet EV charging at City Hall and public library parking lots.
• City of Bellingham – $1.5 million to install charging stations on city-owned land for public, fleet and workplace use, including DC fast charging stations near on-and-off-ramps to Interstate 5, Level 2 charging stations at established parking locations, and off-grid solar chargers at areas with higher use during summer travel months.
• City of Tacoma – $597,558 for additional EV charging stations in the downtown area, including both Level 2 and DC fast chargers at sites serving local workplaces and event centers.
• Clallam County – $67,890 to provide charging stations at the Clallam County Courthouse to serve employees, residents, visitors and county fleet vehicles.
• Energy Northwest – $1.2 million to install a charging station network along the White Pass Scenic Byway, including stations in Lewis and Yakima counties.
• Port of Longview – $96,800 to install Level 2 charging stations to support port fleet vehicle charging, paid workplace charging and paid public charging.
• Port of Seattle – $1.2 million to install DC fast charging EV chargers in the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA) transportation networking company/taxi holding lot, providing thousands of end-users with an opportunity to transition to electric vehicles.
• Puget Sound Energy – $77,762 to install a Level 2 charger serving a shared, light-duty electric vehicle that affordable housing residents may access for transportation in Auburn.
• Seattle City Light – $600,000 to install battery-integrated EV fast chargers on a city-owned parcel in the Belltown neighborhood of Seattle, serving ride hail and taxi drivers, residents of nearby multi-unit dwellings and employees of nearby workplaces.
• Skagit County – $989,521 to procure and construct shore-side EVSE for a 28-car, 150-passenger battery electric ferry for service to Guemes Island.
• Snohomish County Public Utility District #1 – $135,582 to install charging stations at a newly-constructed affordable multi-family housing and commercial building serving the formerly homeless in Everett.
• Snohomish County Public Utility District #1 – $728,780 to install an en-route induction bus charging station as a demonstration project for regional transit agencies and fleets.
• Spokane Regional Transportation Council – $2.5 million to install, in a consortium with Avista and member agencies, Level 2 and DC fast charging plugs at 51 strategic locations throughout Spokane County. Chargers will be used for a variety of purposes including public, fleet, workplace and bus charging.
• Town of Cathlamet – $109,410 to install the only DCFC (Level 3) charger in rural Wahkiakum County, adjacent to State Route 4 and along State Route 409, an important rural highway connecting Washington to Oregon via the Oscar B. toll vehicle ferry.

In addition to prioritizing communities disproportionately impacted by climate change and pollution from transportation systems, COM says that the grants also prioritized communities underserved by existing electric transportation infrastructure. The proposed projects are designed to advance zero-emission transportation technology.

Among the eligible applicants were federally-recognized Tribes, local governments and retail electric utilities. The grant funding is conditional upon final project details and execution of contracts.

The climate package released by Gov. Inslee earlier this month proposes a $100 million investment in the Clean Energy Fund, including $20 million for transportation electrification in order to expand the ETS grant program.

Source : washingtonstatewire