October 3, 2022 – Ohio EPA has awarded $7.9 million in grants to support the installation of more than 150 publicly accessible electric vehicle DC Fast Charging (DCFC) ports at 32 locations in 25 counties. These grants will help improve access to electric vehicle charging infrastructure for travelers across the state.
Funding for the grants comes from dollars allocated to Ohio from the Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund. Public and private entities were eligible for the grants which provide all or partial funding for the DCFC charging stations.
The competitive grants were awarded based on eight funding criteria with the goal of expanding accessibility for electric vehicles across the state. A detailed list of grant recipients and locations is available online. A summary of the grants follows:
- Ashtabula County: Two locations are receiving grants totaling $474,960
- Butler County: Two locations are receiving grants totaling $330,000
- Clermont County: One location is receiving grants totaling $348,395
- Cuyahoga County: Two locations are receiving grants totaling $338,560
- Delaware County: One location is receiving grants totaling $271,720
- Erie County: One location is receiving grants totaling $374,036
- Fairfield County: One location is receiving grants totaling $348,000
- Franklin County: One location is receiving grants totaling $271,720
- Greene County: One location is receiving grants totaling $414,616
- Hamilton County: One location is receiving grants totaling $176,673
- Lake County: One location is receiving grants totaling $165,000
- Licking County: One location is receiving grants totaling $340,925
- Lorain County: Two locations are receiving grants totaling $330,000
- Lucas County: One location is receiving grants totaling $179,410
- Madison County: One location is receiving grants totaling $203,240
- Mahoning County: Three locations are receiving grants totaling $895,904
- Medina County: Two locations are receiving grants totaling $474,960
- Montgomery County: One location is receiving grants totaling $189,505
- Ottawa County: One location is receiving grants totaling $380,918
- Portage County: One location is receiving grants totaling $165,000
- Sandusky County: One location is receiving grants totaling 349,895
- Stark County: One location is receiving grants totaling $348,000
- Summit County: One location is receiving grants totaling $165,000
- Trumbull County: One location is receiving grants totaling $271,720
- Warren County: One location is receiving grants totaling $165,000
The Volkswagen Mitigation Trust Fund resulted from a lawsuit that alleged VW installed defeat devices on certain vehicles (model years 2009-2016). The devices activated during emissions testing made vehicles appear to be compliant with the law, when in fact, during an on-road operation, the vehicles emitted nine to 40 times the allowable amount of nitrogen oxides, a harmful air pollutant. A settlement filed with the federal court allocated funds to states based on the number of vehicles with the illegal devices that were registered in each state.
During his time as Attorney General, Governor Mike DeWine, along with other state attorneys general, worked to ensure that states would receive their share of funding from the settlement. The trust agreement requires each state to develop a plan identifying how funding will be allocated to 10 allowable uses that can reduce nitrogen oxide emissions and offset damages. Eligible projects include replacement or engine repowers of the following: aging diesel trucks; school, shuttle, and transit buses; ferries and tugboats; switcher locomotives; airport ground support equipment; forklifts; and cargo handling equipment in ports. Ohio EPA has offered three rounds of grant opportunities to replace aging diesel engine fleets. Ohio EPA has posted a copy of the state’s plan for the program on the Office of Environmental Education web page.
Additional federal funds for charging stations are anticipated to come to Ohio through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, which is administered by Drive Ohio.