PPA Encourages Members To Fill Out PennDOT Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Survey
Under the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, Pennsylvania will have access to $171.5 million in funding to develop an electric vehicle charging infrastructure in the Commonwealth over a five year period.
The funding supports the Commonwealth goal of expanding EV charging along the previously designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs) and Interstate lookalikes.
Federal AFC criteria was updated to require AFC designated ready corridors to have charging stations no more than 1 mile from an Interstate exit or highway intersection (previously 5 miles) and no more than 50 miles apart.
Draft State Plan
PennDOT has completed a draft State Plan for Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment, required by the Federal Highway Administration, to receive formula funding through the new National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program created by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
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PennDOT Survey
PennDOT has launched a survey to collect feedback on the goals, infrastructure prioritization, and program administration components of the Draft Pennsylvania State Plan.
The survey – which also includes an overview of FHWA’s NEVI Formula Program Guidance
PPA encourages members to take the survey. The deadline to provide survey responses is June 30.
PPA Position On NEVI
Below is a summary of the PPA position on NEVI infrastructure prioritization and implementation we would encourage you to include in your survey responses–
There are currently 3,500+ Convenience Store locations selling retail gasoline throughout the Commonwealth. This established industry is fuel agnostic and is well positioned to meet all aspects of PA’s NEVI State Plan Vision Statement.
There is no better existing infrastructure network that can consistently support EV range confidence in every target Pennsylvania transportation corridor.
Pennsylvania should leverage the core competencies of the dynamic retail fuel industry and the utility sector to best implement a statewide network of EV charging stations.
Retailers should focus on serving customer needs, a vital requirement considering the time it takes an electric vehicle user to refuel.
Utilities should focus on creating the transmission and distribution infrastructure that makes electricity available to retailers and other charging station owners.
Utilities should be prohibited from using captive ratepayers to underwrite their share of NEVI projects. When this occurs, free-market forces are stymied as utilities operate at a guaranteed rate of return without risking capital.
Retailers will then be hesitant to risk their money (even if it makes up a small percentage of the cost of a charging project) if forced to compete against entities enjoying such a tremendous advantage.
NEVI grant recipients should be reflective of the broad-based coalition of today’s fueling industry with a mix of Pennsylvania-based businesses, multi-state companies, and independently-owned locations.
The NEVI grant application process should also be simplified and feasible to any organization regardless of their administrative capacity.
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