Idaho is behind on its electric vehicle chargers. Federal funds could soon change that
Idaho could add hundreds of new electric vehicle charging stations across the state in the coming years through dedicated federal infrastructure dollars to expand the nationwide network.
The state is eligible for more than $4 million toward the effort in the first year of the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act program, President Joe Biden’s administration announced earlier this month. In total, Idaho could receive as much as $30 million over the next five years to ensure that resident commuters and road-trippers have more convenient access to electric hookups along the state’s highway system.
The $1.2 trillion federal infrastructure law passed last year with bipartisan support that included Idaho U.S. Sens. Mike Crapo and Jim Risch, both Republicans. The spending package offers $5 billion through 2026 for states to build on the burgeoning public electric vehicle power sources that would replace traditional gas stations at highway offramps.
“We are modernizing America’s national highway system for drivers in cities large and small, towns and rural communities, to take advantage of the benefits of driving electric,” U.S. Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm said in a press release announcing the five-year plan. “The bipartisan infrastructure law is helping states to make electric vehicle charging more accessible by building the necessary infrastructure for drivers across America to save money and go the distance, from coast to coast.”
Idaho residents have so far been slow to adopt electric vehicles. Through the end of 2020, the state ranked in the bottom-10 in the nation for EV registrations among states that participated in a U.S. Department of Energy survey.
But those numbers are on the rise. Through December, the Idaho Division of Motor Vehicles reported the state now counts 3,250 registered electric vehicles — a 41% increase from the previous year. That total is on top of nearly 30,000 other gas-electric hybrids, of which about 1,000 are plug-in models.
For electric vehicle owners in the state, however, as well as would-be buyers, finding a hookup to recharge has remained an obstacle. Idaho has about 100 public EV charging stations statewide, according to the U.S. Energy Department. That total represents less than a half of a percent of the country’s 100,000-plus chargers as of March 2021.
Biden and his Democratic administration aim to reach a half-million chargers across the U.S., and 50% zero-emission vehicles, by 2030, including through the infrastructure law funds dedicated to the network expansion.
The law sets aside another $2.5 billion over which states will compete to fund additional electric vehicle infrastructure, including charging stations, as well as other alternative fuel vehicle needs, senior administration officials said in a press briefing.
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To access the guaranteed federal funds, states must submit for approval their plans for electric vehicle charger deployment to the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation before August.
The federal program first prioritizes installing and upgrading stations every 50 miles along the highway system, before adding public chargers on state roadways, and within cities and rural communities in future years.
Idaho plans to participate in the program, according to Jillian Garrigues, an Idaho Transportation Department spokesperson. Gov. Brad Little has included $5.9 million of the federal funds as part of his budget recommendations, now under review by the Idaho Legislature, for the state’s initial EV charger build-out.
Idaho still has the majority of its $2.6 million share left of a 2017 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency Clean Air Act violation settlement with Volkswagen to install charging stations in the state, Garrigues said.
Crapo, the ranking Republican on the Senate Finance Committee, trusts the state’s leadership to decide how much of the $30 million Idaho needs from the allocated federal funds for new charging stations over the next five years, spokesperson Melanie Lawson told the Idaho Statesman by email.
Congress passed the infrastructure law with support from 18 Republican senators and 13 GOP House members. Idaho’s U.S. Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher both opposed the package.
Regardless, President Biden’s signature on the bill in November provides Idaho up to $2.5 billion for upgrades to its roads and bridges, airports, water infrastructure and broadband and public transit systems.
Simpson said he backs the state securing the funds toward its EV charger build-out, despite voting against the bill in November largely based on Democrats’ pursuit of the bill in tandem with a social spending package that never came up for a vote in the Senate.
“Electric vehicles are obviously becoming more popular, and I support the infrastructure investment needed to support this growth,” Simpson said in a written statement to the Statesman. “With Idaho’s large percentage of public lands as well as our rural geography, it is very appropriate that we accept the funding so that these types of vehicles can be available and usable for all who want them — not just those near major towns.”
Fulcher’s office did not respond to emailed requests for comment. Risch’s office said he was unavailable for comment last week.
This story was originally published February 20, 2022 at 4:00 AM.
