An electric vehicle on a charger. According to the U.S. Department of Energy, the number of charging stations in Arkansas is behind other states and more urban areas of the country. (Shutterstock)
The state of Arkansas has put a hold on its build-out of electric changing stations.
The $54.1 million program was part of the Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021. The act created the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program (NEVI), a grant program to be overseen by the U.S. Department of Transportation.
The entire NEVI program will now wait for legal challenges to play out or a new set of rules for its implementation.
A year ago, the state approved the first 19 projects at a cost of nearly $15 million to build stations predominantly along the interstate system. But that was a year ago under a far EV-friendlier presidential administration.
The current administration has decided to freeze the NEVI program. In a Feb. 6 letter to directors of states’ departments of transportation, including Arkansas’, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) said the DOT was freezing funding for NEVI.
“The new leadership of the Department of Transportation (U.S. DOT) has decided to review the policies underlying the implementation of the NEVI Formula Program,” wrote Emily Biondi, an official with the FHWA. “Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded. The FHWA is updating the NEVI Formula Program Guidance to align with current U.S. DOT policy and priorities.”
The letter said the FHWA hopes to have new NEVI guidelines for public comment in the spring before finalizing the new rules. “As result of the rescission of the NEVI Formula Program Guidance, FHWA is also immediately suspending the approval of all State Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment plans for all fiscal years,” the letter continued. “Therefore, effective immediately, no new obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program until the updated final NEVI Formula Program Guidance is issued and new State plans are submitted and approved.”
The FHWA said states “will be held harmless for not implementing their existing plans.”
ARDOT posted an alert on its website detailing the Feb. 6 letter.
“As a result, ARDOT has closed the current Request for Proposals (RFP),” ARDOT said. “Additionally, no new Federal funding obligations may occur under the NEVI Formula Program. The 19 awarded projects from the first RFP round will not be able to move forward with agreement execution at this time.”
The 19 projects were designed to increase the number of charging stations for passenger cars and light trucks; the state currently has five: in Rogers, Hope, Little Rock, Clarksville and Forrest City. A NEVI-compliant station is one that has at least four fast-charging ports that can deliver at least 150 kilowatts of electricity per hour.
Proponents of electric vehicles were quick to protest the decision by the U.S. Department of Transportation and its new secretary, former Wisconsin Republican congressman Sean Duffy.
Democratic members of the U.S. Senate’s Committee on Environment & Public Works criticized Duffy’s decision in a letter.
“This action shows blatant disrespect for the law and for constitutional order,” the letter read. “Your abrupt cutoff of NEVI funding disregards these efforts and subjects states and their partners to delay, uncertainty, and bureaucratic red tape. It also threatens the jobs, innovation, and environmental benefits that this program was ready and authorized to deliver through implementation.”
In her Feb. 6 letter, Biondi wrote that the NEVI program requires the Transportation secretary’s approval of each state’s plan. Democratic senators said the action was “subverting” Congress’ constitutional authority to oversee federal spending in a law authorized by Congress.