State lays out rules for EV charging station funding
(The Center Square) – Expanding Pennsylvania’s electric vehicle public charging system comes with a lot of guidelines that state officials want developers and residents to know about.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation recently hosted six community engagement sessions across the commonwealth and a virtual information session for prospective contractors interested in applying for the next round of National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, or NEVI, funding.
“The engagement events were an excellent opportunity to conduct outreach with our partners and locals to hear their thoughts on our NEVI plans and where they feel future charging stations would best be deployed in their communities,” PennDOT Transformational Technology Chief Derrick Herrmann told The Center Square. “With Round 1A opening soon, we’ll be able to further strengthen the EV charging network for Pennsylvania drivers.”
As part of the federal infrastructure law, PennDOT will distribute $171.5 million in federal funds for building out the public EV charging infrastructure over five years. PA NEVI program funds will be awarded on a competitive basis and requires proposers to provide a minimum 20% match.
Round one awards, in the amount of $34.8 million, resulted in the approval of 56 projects in 37 counties, the first of which was completed in Pittson. Typically, according to PennDOT, projects take approximately 18-24 months to complete at an average cost of $650,000.
The $22 million of Round 1A funding will focus on closing gaps along Pennsylvania’s 1,800 miles of previously designated Alternative Fuel Corridors. PennDOT also updated priority locations map on its website.
Per federal guidance, sites must be no more than 50 miles apart and within one mile of an exit before moving outward with future projects.
Round 1A regulations have been updated with a more detailed scoring rubric that includes a disadvantaged community score. In addition, there are now site design and charging station checklists, and an improved legal agreement.
Future charging stations will be required to install Level 3, or DC fast chargers, with a minimum of four CCS charging ports, each with a power capacity of 150 kW.
The stations must be publicly available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week and have two ADA compliant parking spaces. They need not be reserved for ADA but “Use Last” signage must be placed.
The next deadline to submit technical questions is Dec. 4 and proposals will be accepted from Dec. 11 to Jan. 26. PennDOT hopes to announce the awards in May and estimates the work will proceed from summer to fall 2024.
Bacon-Davis wage rates have also been incorporated into the funding opportunity documents which will be updated by January 16, 2024.
According to PennDOT’s registration database, to date, there are almost 60,000 Battery Electric Vehicles registered in Pennsylvania – an increase of 36% over the course of 2023 – trailing just behind Plug-in Hybrid Vehicles which increased by 41%.
During the information session on Nov. 20, Hermann said Round 1 sites chosen were located at existing fueling stations, convenience stores, and travel centers, but other locations such as grocery stores and restaurants will continue to be considered.
