Preliminary Notice for Grant Funding Opportunity for EV Charging Infrastructure along High-Traffic Transportation Corridors in WA

Beginning in December, the Washington Department of Ecology will open a grant opportunity providing about $4 million on a competitive basis to install or upgrade existing publicly available direct current fast chargers (DCFC) along high-traffic transportation corridors.

This grant funding opportunity will open December 3, 2019 and close February 4, 2020.

Eligible Projects and Potential Awards

Both new installations and upgrades to existing and operational stations are eligible.

The maximum amount for an individual grant award is $600,000. Applicants may apply for more than one project location, but must submit a separate application for each site.

Ecology is providing preliminary information on eligibility and minimum criteria to provide applicants sufficient time to prepare for this funding opportunity. Additional detail, including scoring criteria and process, will be available in the grant guidelines when the funding opportunity opens on December 3, 2019.

Eligible applicants

  • Businesses located in Washington and registered with the Secretary of State to do business in the State of Washington, including but not limited to corporations, partnerships, sole proprietorships, limited liability companies, business trusts, other legal business entities
  • Incorporated nonprofits (RCW 24.03.005)
  • State, Local, or Tribal Government, including but not limited to: cities and towns[3]; counties[4]; special districts[5], such as water-sewer districts, irrigation districts, fire districts, school districts, community college districts, hospital districts, transportation districts, and metropolitan municipal corporations; investor-owned utilities, municipal utilities, Public Utility Districts; port authorities; and Air Pollution Control Authorities[6]

Minimum Requirements

  • Proposed project sites must be available for public use, without restrictions, 24 hours per day, 7 days per week. The proposed project should accommodate public, short-term visits and should be within a quarter mile safe walking distance of:
    • a publicly available restroom.
    • amenities/activities available to drivers during charging sessions
  • Grant recipients must provide a minimum 20% of the total eligible costs.
  • Proposed projects must be located at a publicly accessible site owned and not leased by the applicant, or applicants must have a Letter of Intent from the host site at the time of application and a final Host-Operator Agreement in place within 30 days of accepting an award. Host-Operator Agreements must be in place for at least five years.

Priority Project Areas (see Attachment 1)

Funding is available statewide for eligible projects. Ecology will prioritize projects that:

Applicants can earn points and increase the competitiveness of their projects statewide by exceeding the required 20% match.

Grant Application Process

All applicants will need to submit applications through the electronic grant and loan application system called EAGL (Ecology Administration of Grants and Loans). To apply through EAGL, applicants must first register for a Secure Access Washington (SAW) account and an EAGL account.  Detailed instructions for new and current EAGL users are at: https://ecology.wa.gov/About-us/How-we-operate/Grants-loans  

To be notified when the application period opens, please sign up for our email list and visit Ecology’s website.

For more information, contact

Brett Rude at 360-407-6847 or brett.rude@ecy.wa.gov

Molly Spiller at 360-407-6060 or molly.spiller@ecy.wa.gov

Background:

To address climate change and improve public health, Washington is adopting innovative policies across all sectors of the economy to create clean energy jobs and transition from fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.  Although Washington ranks among the leading states for electric vehicle sales, transportation is still our largest source of air pollution, including greenhouse gasses that contribute to climate change. Continued electrification of transportation systems will reduce air pollution, including greenhouse gases.

Washington’s Volkswagen settlement represents an unprecedented opportunity to make transformative improvements across Washington’s transportation sector.  Ecology’s mitigation plan identifies electric buses, transit buses, and ferries, along with electric vehicle charging infrastructure among the key investment opportunities that will shape Washington’s zero-emission, transportation future.  The Departments of Commerce, Ecology, and Transportation are coordinating to invest in zero emission technologies for our publicly owned fleets and to expand the electric vehicle charging infrastructure network for the general public. These investments will significantly reduce public exposure to harmful pollution, address climate change, and generate financial savings in fuel and maintenance costs.