Pennsylvania and other states are trying to determine what a Trump administration order last week will mean for the buildout of federally-funded electric vehicle charging stations.
Pennsylvania has been expecting $171.5 million over five years to build EV chargers through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said it has built six so far and has 91 more under contract for a network along major highways with $59 million in NEVI funding.
- Trump and Harris rev-up the rhetoric about electric vehicles
- Federal funds set to boost Pennsylvania’s supply of highway charging stations for electric vehicles
The memo
A memo sent last week by Secretary of Transportation Sean Duffy abruptly cut off the funds.
“Effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program,” the memo reads. The Federal Highway Administration is “immediately suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years,” the memo stated.
States are required to submit these plans annually for federal approval to outline how they will use their allocation to build EV charging networks. All 50 states have received NEVI funding to build a national network.
The administration memo said it will review the program guidance and intends to have an updated draft for public comment by the spring.
“Until new guidance is issued, reimbursement of existing obligations will be allowed in order to not disrupt current financial commitments,” the memo said.
However, it said that existing state plans to build EV infrastructure would be scrapped and would need to be resubmitted after his office reviews the program.
What does it mean for EVs in Pa.?
Like transportation officials across the country, PennDOT is evaluating the order to see what it means for its current projects, “Our evaluation will also review the FHWA [Federal Highway Administration] memo to determine potential impacts on upcoming project phases,” PennDOT spokesman Zachary Appleby said in an email.
“Some construction projects that are ongoing will stop. Other construction projects that were nearly ready to break ground will be delayed, said Nick Nigro founder of Atlas Public Policy, which analyses EV data and policy. “Any delay in a construction project is going to make it more expensive.”
“This is an unprecedented move to try to claw back funding that has been obligated to states,” said Beth Hammon, senior advocate for EV infrastructure, climate & energy at the Natural Resources Defense Council. “And this program, again, to underscore is something that passed with strong bipartisan support.”
The NEVI program was funded as part of the 2022 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
From day one, President Trump’s administration has been working to stop all climate and clean energy spending approved during the Biden presidency.
Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the U.S., and NRDC sees electrifying cars, trucks, and buses as a key to addressing that. Without a reliable network of charging stations, a major concern for consumers is “range anxiety.” “And ultimately [not] having the infrastructure in place is the greatest barrier to realizing that zero-emission transportation future,” Hammon said.
Highways vs byways
PennDOT has focused its NEVI funding so far to build charging stations along highways and major roads, as the program guidelines require, including six stations in Allegheny County. Once a fast-charging network along highways is built out, NEVI funding can be used in other public locations, like along rural or urban roads.
“The places that have a lot of [EV] adoption, they tend to have a lot of chargers available,” said Corey Harper, an assistant professor in civil and environmental engineering at Carnegie Mellon University, who researches emerging trends in transportation.
“California, Seattle, they have a lot more chargers within their urban areas, within their rural areas, so you’re seeing a lot more electric vehicles,” he said. “Whereas in Pennsylvania, Pittsburgh, we don’t have as much deployment, and hence we’re just not seeing as much EV adoption yet.”
Less than one percent of vehicles in Pennsylvania are currently electric.
If the state wants to encourage more people to drive EVs, it needs more chargers near where people live, according to Harper.
For example, in Pittsburgh, many people don’t have off-street parking and, therefore can’t charge a car at home, but currently, there aren’t many publicly available chargers. Harper calls it a “chicken and the egg problem.” If the state wants to encourage EV adoption, “we need more EV chargers,” he said.
Other EV charging investments
The federal government funding was meant, in part, to kick-start other EV investments. So far, $5.3 billion has been approved for investor-owned utilities to invest in EV charging, according to Nigro.
Although Pennsylvania hasn’t seen as much of that kind of investment. “In Pennsylvania, utilities have only been approved [by the Public Utilities Commission] to invest $6.5 million,” he said.
Some states have also been putting their own money toward EV charging. “More than $12 billion of state dollars has been invested or is available to invest in charging nationwide,” Nigro said, “…while Pennsylvania has about $15 million [in state investments].”
In addition, his group has also tallied more than $12 billion of announced private investments in charging nationwide.
