SC can restart electric vehicle charging program after federal funding restored

Federal funding for electric vehicle chargers is back.

States have until Sept. 10 to resubmit plans for spending their share of federal money set aside by Congress during the Biden administration to put more fast-charging stations along the interstate system for electric vehicles. South Carolina's designated share of the $5 billion total is nearly $70 million.

The state Department of Transportation is revising its plan and will meet next month's deadline, spokeswoman Hannah Robinson told the SC Daily Gazette.

The 2021 federal law creating the program requires states to come up with a 20% match for its share. But in South Carolina, the necessary $14 million likely won't come from state taxes. In its original plan, the DOT sought private industry partners, such as gas station owners, to cover the cost in exchange for the added customers the chargers would bring to their businesses, according to a DOT website on its plan.

In a state that's lured billions of dollars' worth of investment from electric vehicle manufacturers, the availability of electric vehicle charging stations lags most of the country.

In February, after President Donald Trump took office, the Federal Highway Administration stopped sending out dollars for the effort known as the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program.

The highway agency allowed states to keep money for any charging station sites already under contract for construction. But the agency halted all funds not designated for a project with an eye toward clawing back the money and ending the program altogether.

At the time, South Carolina was still drafting documents and had yet to solicit bids, award contracts or spend any money on chargers.

Twenty states, the District of Columbia and half a dozen environmental groups sued the Trump administration over the paused funding. The money remained on ice until a federal judge, in June, ordered the freeze be lifted.

Last week, the highway agency sent notices out to states, letting them know they could reapply.

'Do it right'

U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy criticized the Biden administration for its slow rollout of the program. Both NEVI and its sister program, the $2.5 billion Charging and Fueling Infrastructure grant, were plagued by delays.

Though the Biden administration had approved states' plans, many had spent just a fraction of their funds.

"If Congress is requiring the federal government to support charging stations, let's cut the waste and do it right," Duffy said in a statement. "While I don't agree with subsidizing green energy, we will respect Congress' will and make sure this program uses federal resources efficiently."

There are 87 NEVI-funded stations open across 16 states, according to an online dashboard maintained by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials and the National Association of State Energy Officials. States have awarded contracts on more than 200 stations that have yet to be built. Contracts for 160 other stations were paused.

Duffy, in his statement, went on to say the highway agency's new guidance "slashes red tape and makes it easier for states to efficiently build out this infrastructure."

What changed

The original program required charging stations to be located every 50 miles along corridors. The new guidance did away with that distance requirement, leaving it up to states to decide.

In line with the Trump administration's pushback on diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) efforts, the highway agency also erased language around soliciting "diverse" feedback, including from rural and underserved communities, and ensuring an "equitable" distribution of chargers. It also cut requirements that 40% of funds pay for projects benefiting disadvantaged communities.

Gone also are requirements that states give added consideration to small, minority and woman-owned contractors.

And the agency no longer suggests states consider renewable energy sources to power the stations, which can charge up to four vehicles at the same time.

States can simply resubmit their same plans for reapproval. The highway agency just won't take the removed standards into consideration when evaluating it.

Similar to the Biden administration's original rules, once states have a reliable fleet of fast chargers along its designated interstates, they can spend any leftover funding on installing chargers along state and local roads.

SC lags behind

South Carolina remains 31st in the nation and next to last in the Southeast when it comes to the number of fast chargers per capita, according to the most recent report issued by the Southern Alliance for Clean Energy.

The state also trails in the number of electric vehicles sold.

South Carolina has about 1,640 public charging ports at just over 600 locations, according to the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation, compared to 10,500 in Florida, 5,435 in Georgia and 4,575 in North Carolina.

In the Southeast, only Alabama has fewer ports — 1,043.

It's unclear how many charging stations South Carolina could add with the money.

Georgia has spent about $180,000 per charging port, awarding contracts for 20 stations, according to the online database. Alabama expects to add 60 charging stations with the federal grant, while North Carolina plans to add 40. Both states expect to spend about $150,000 per port.

Other federal funding

While the funding for electric vehicle chargers is restored, other climate change-related federal grant money remains out of reach.

Last year, South Carolina's Office of Resilience won a $124 million Environmental Protection Agency grant for solar programs to help low-income communities. That funding was part of $7 billion awarded nationwide for the so-called Solar for All component of the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

The state had planned to spend the money in four ways:

• Money for low-income families that wanted to pool their resources and install off-site solar panels to power multiple homes
• Money for low-income households to make their homes more energy efficient and save on their monthly power bill, building on programs already offered by utility companies in the state
• Workforce development programs to train more people to work in the solar industry
• An innovation fund that affordable housing builders could tap to add solar power to their developments, giving tenants access to low-cost energy

The state Office of Resilience was still in its first year of planning when the funding was pulled, so the agency had yet to work out any further details.