The webinar was part of a series in conjunction with the Electric Vehicles Roadmap Initiative of WGA Chair and Oregon Gov. Kate Brown. The Chair’s Initiative is examining opportunities to improve the planning, siting, and coordination of electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure in western states.

Federal, state, and local agencies, as well as utilities and the EV industry, are making significant investments in EV infrastructure across the West.  Planning, permitting and siting EV charging and hydrogen fueling infrastructure can require multiple entities to collaborate in terms of financial support and allocated staff time.  Furthermore, the diversity of public funding opportunities offered by federal programs, state agencies and utilities can introduce additional opportunities and complications related to financing and siting EV infrastructure.

The webinar examined various state programs, effective public-private partnership models, and how costs associated with utility planning and infrastructure upgrades affect EV projects. The webinar was moderated by WGA Policy Advisor Kevin Moss. Highlights of panelist comments  included:

James Campbell - Director of Innovation and Sustainability Policy, Rocky Mountain Power: “The regulatory paradigm is ‘used’ and ‘useful.’ When you make the investment, it needs to be used. This is where the state can step in and say ‘by 2030 we anticipate achieving a certain level of adoption, so let’s start preparing for that.’ ”

Alicia Cox – Executive Director, Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities Coalition: “The Montana DEQ has released some funds for Level 2 and DC fast charging stations. They installed DC Fast Charging stations using (Volkswagen) settlement funds and supplemented the rest with their own funds. This was a great example of a project pulling various funds together to complete.”

Bill Elrick – Executive Director, California Fuel Cell Partnership: “(Hydrogen fuelling) is a global market, the momentum is great, and it’s both an environmental and economic transition globally. In California, we’ve built this market through leadership, planning and commitments. It is absolutely a collaboration between government and industry.”

Dedrick Roper – Director, Public-Private Partnerships, ChargePoint: “The role of state government setting the tone, providing the true north and some leadership and investment, that’s what gets other partners to the table … Electric coops and municipal utilities have begun to step up following state leadership, and are reaching out to other stakeholders that may want to contribute to those projects.”

Watch the first webinar in the series: Examining Transmission and Distribution Infrastructure Across the West.

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