Chester County, home to one of the largest numbers of electric vehicles in the state, hopes to grow its footprint of public charging stations.
Through the federally funded National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, administered through the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, the county is looking to build up its community-based public EV charging stations for people who have or want an electric vehicle but do not have a charging station installed at home.
Funding from the program flows directly to municipalities or other applicants for EV chargers. PennDot expects to fund more than 100 projects through the grant.
It builds on an initial federally funded project under the same program, which sought to place charging stations every 50 miles along the major travel corridors to address long drives across the state. Through that program, Chester County projects received $3.2 million.
Chester County’s proposal would increase the number of public chargers speckled around the county, from workplaces to businesses, giving drivers a place to charge their cars as part of their day-to-day routines.
Chester County, which has both densely packed development and rolling agricultural pockets, saw its rates of EV ownership double between 2022 and 2024, with more than 9,000 EVs registered in the county in the state’s most recent data. The county is behind only Montgomery in overall EV registrations in the southeastern part of the state.
“Things are pretty spread out, and with the infrastructure that we have in place right now, other modes of transportation that are carbon-free or less carbon intensive than single-occupancy vehicles are not as viable here as they are in other places that are more dense,” said Rachael Griffith, sustainability director for the Chester County Planning Commission. “If we’re looking at a lower carbon future for our transportation network, EVs are really a great option for that here in our land-use setting. Building out the network of EV chargers is really the way that we incentivize that.”
EVs are expensive, but Chester County has the highest median income in the state, so it makes sense it would see the higher ownership rates, Griffith said.
Under former President Joe Biden’s administration, there had been a broader push nationally for electric projects. But that shifted with President Donald Trump’s return to office, as the president slashed electric goals. Experts in clean transportation anticipated seeing more projects focused on propane and natural gas in response.
Despite the policy shifts, “it’s very clear that the future of transportation is electric,” Griffith said.
“The more that we can do to plan for that future, I think the better prepared we will be in the long term,” she said.
The county’s planning commission is reaching out to municipalities and chambers of commerce to drive applications for the program, Griffith said. Applications are open until Aug. 21; any business registered in Pennsylvania is eligible for funds.
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