Project Will Expand City’s Existing Public EV Charging Network by Six Times, including in Locations that Will Serve High Numbers of Renters, New Americans, Refugees, and BIPOC
Vermont Business Magazine Burlington Electric Department (BED) was awarded a $4,890,821 Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Program grant by the U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Highway Administration to deploy electric vehicle (EV) chargers throughout the City of Burlington. In implementing its “Charging to Net Zero Energy” project, BED plans to use the grant funds to install 153 Level 2 and 47 Level 3 fast chargers at approximately 85 publicly accessible sites.
The project will expand by six times BED’s existing public charging network, encourage EV adoption, promote accessibility of EVs by including locations that will serve high numbers of renters, New Americans, Refugees, and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC), and help the City meet its Net Zero Energy (NZE) climate goal. BED was the only Vermont recipient of federal grant funds in this latest funding announcement.
“Electric vehicles are not only better for the planet than gasoline-powered cars, they also help Vermont residents save in fuel and maintenance costs in the long term,” stated Sen. Bernie Sanders, a senior member of the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee. “That is why I fought to make sure Vermont got its fair share in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. Congratulations to Burlington Electric Department on this award, and I look forward to seeing hundreds of new electric vehicle chargers installed throughout Burlington.”
“This is a big step forward for Vermont’s sustainability goals,” stated Sen. Peter Welch, a member of the Senate Commerce, Science, and Transportation Committee. “It will make our transition to EV charging and electrification more equitable and accessible for all Vermonters who need a charge, as well as folks visiting Burlington. The Biden-Harris Administration and Congressional Democrats fought hard to include this funding in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, and now that investment has come right back home to the Green Mountain State.”
“Vermonters take seriously our role in combatting climate change, and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has made taking action more accessible and equitable,” said Rep. Becca Balint. “The Biden-Harris Administration continues to make bold investment in our clean energy future, and this funding directly invests in making green transit options within reach for more Vermonters. I’m excited for the installation of these EV chargers in and around Burlington.”
“Addressing climate change is one of our top priorities as a City, and federal funding is crucial to ensure we have the resources to do this work,” stated Mayor Emma Mulvaney-Stanak. “This grant will support efforts to increase access to EV charging in Burlington and will help break down barriers to EV ownership for Burlington residents. These funds, in tandem with BED revenue bonds, will help equitably expand access to EV charging to more of our community. We greatly appreciate the Biden-Harris Administration and Senator Sanders, Senator Welch, and Representative Balint for making this award possible, and I thank the Burlington Electric Department team for leading this grant application effort and planning the build-out of EV charging across our City.”
“This exciting grant opportunity will make it possible for BED to dramatically expand publicly available EV charging in Burlington, including helping to increase Level 3 fast-charger installations approximately 16x from three installed today to 50 in the future,” stated Darren Springer, BED General Manager. “This generational investment in the electrification effort in Burlington will make EV charging more accessible in our City, including for renters, Burlingtonians residing in areas of our community identified as disadvantaged under federal economic justice criteria, and those visiting our local Burlington businesses. We thank our federal delegation for their support of investment in EV charging and the U.S. Department of Transportation for this critical funding. I also want to recognize and thank the team at BED that worked collaboratively to craft this grant application and EV charging plan. Today is just the start of a process to locate and install new chargers, and we welcome the community to share input on where to locate new EV charging.”
BED’s planned project under the grant will expand the City’s existing public EV charging network by installing additional charging ports in every City neighborhood at locations such as neighborhood retail and commercial centers, municipal parks, community centers, schools, intermodal transportation hubs, parking facilities, local business destinations, high-density high rental-rate residential areas and multi-unit residential developments, tourist destinations, and cultural sites.
Many of the potential EV charger sites are municipally owned properties, and more than 40 percent are planned to be located in the City’s two census tracts identified as disadvantaged in the Climate and Economic Justice Screening Tool provided by the White House Council on Environmental Quality.
These tracts include #50007001000, covering a corridor from the South End through Downtown, and #50007000400, across the Old North End, home to much of Burlington’s New American, Refugee, and BIPOC communities. BED actively is seeking public input on potential EV charger sites through its website at burlingtonelectric.com/newchargers and will engage in additional public process in specific neighborhoods to identify locations that meet community needs.
The new Level 2 charging locations in Burlington will include both post-mounted and utility pole-mounted chargers to minimize footprint as much as possible and may include both on-street and off-street parking spots with unrestricted public access.
The Level 3 fast chargers likely will be deployed mostly in off-street parking lots with unrestricted public access. Every EV charger installation plan will be developed with expansion opportunities in mind, allowing for additional cost-effective deployments to be made in the future.
These chargers will be owned and operated by BED and installed over the course of a seven-year period with an increasing number of each type of charger deployed each year. This charger deployment trajectory is aimed at keeping pace with demand from EV adoption through 2030.
The CFI Program grants were created by the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (also known as the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law), which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in November 2021. The program is providing $2.5 billion over five years to strategically deploy publicly accessible EV charging and alternative fueling infrastructure in urban and rural communities where people live and work, including downtown areas and local neighborhoods, particularly in underserved and disadvantaged communities.
Grant awards this August were made to 51 applicants located across 29 states and the District of Columbia, including eight Native American Tribes.
BED’s grant application was the result of a strong cross-disciplinary and cross-division collaboration of BED team members, and the grant funding will help BED meet its goal of significantly expanding EV charging access across the City. Grant funds can be matched by funds available through BED’s current 2022 Net Zero Energy Revenue Bond and/or a proposed Net Zero Energy and Reliability Revenue Bond that has been approved by City Council to be considered by voters on the November 2024 ballot. Cost share is 80 percent federal and 20 percent BED.
The project supports state, regional, and local goals for reducing greenhouse gases, reducing reliance on fossil fuels, expanding EV charging infrastructure, supporting EV adoption, and combating climate change.
Darren Springer addressed VermontBiz questions involving EVs: Cost of vehicles, availbility of charging stations, and charging times (including users desire for level 3 chargers versus level 2).
EV accessibility and affordability, BED offers strong incentives for both purchase and lease, and for pre-owned EVs as well that can be stacked with state and federal incentives. BED also offers enhanced incentives for income-eligible customers for EVs. From 2017-mid-year 2024, 21% of our EV incentives have gone to income-eligible customers. That said we agree that having more affordable EVs is certainly critical to helping make driving electric more affordable for all.
Given not all Burlingtonians want to own a car or can afford to own a car, we also partner with CarShare Vermont and have helped them add EVs and plug-in hybrids to their car sharing fleet, with charging locations around the community. We also provide e-bike incentives, and have helped convert 10% of the Green Mountain Transit fleet to electric buses, to help electrify all modes of transportation.
We are taking input from the community through ourwww.burlingtonelectric.com/newcharger survey form. But our team has also mapped out possible locations to expand our existing charging network.
Currently our network includes mainly Level 2 chargers with just a couple of Level 3 fast chargers (one at our offices in the South End, and one about to be energized downtown). Currently we have level 2 public chargers in a number of locations where EV drivers might park and spend some time, including Oakledge Park, Church St./Downtown, Hannafords in the New North End, locations at UVM, and elsewhere. Recently, we also installed 5 pole-mounted community on-street level 2 chargers in places where drivers may lack access to off-street parking and charging. These chargers can be used for longer charging sessions for residents living nearby. And we have incentivized rental property locations to install their own level 2 chargers as well.
Chargers we’ll install in the future (that as you note many drivers seek out for quicker charging), we’ll be looking at high utilization locations (areas near grocery stores, shops, restaurants, etc.) around the community. For Level 2s, we’ll be looking for a mix of locations including more community pole-mounted chargers that make charging more accessible for renters and those who lack off-street parking, more parks and municipal locations, and overall greater ubiquity so drivers can access a level 2 at more locations. Level 2 chargers are great for plug-in hybrid drivers and also helpful for EV drivers if they are spending a few hours somewhere.
Our rates at all of our chargers in our public network, whether level 2 or level 3, are the same and are set by tariff (currently 21 cents per kilowatt hour). We are working to provide in the near future a discounted off-peak charging rate for the community pole-mounted level 2 chargers, given we expect those to be used more during off-peak hours by residents. That is similar to how we provide discounted home charging rates for off-peak charging for residential customers who install a qualified level 2.
Source: 8.29.2024. Burlington, VT – Burlington Electric Department (BED)
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