BURLINGTON, Vt. (WCAX) – Vermont’s EV charger buildout is on the back burner after a federal funding freeze.
Whatever vehicle you’re steering, road trippers in Vermont want fast, accessible refueling. For EV drivers, that’s become an uphill battle amid changes in Washington.
One at-home charge of his Tesla model is enough to get Todd Lockwood of South Burlington across Vermont easily.
“I can do a round trip to White River Junction, or even to Brattleboro from Burlington without charging at all. So, you know, it’s amazing,” said Lockwood.
Vermont has over 400 public charging stations – the most chargers per capita in the country. However, state officials say we need more – particularly fast chargers every 50 miles along highways and within a mile from exits.
“Vermont is doing quite well with this charging infrastructure, but that’s not always felt on the ground by EV drivers. We need more charging. We know we need faster charging,” said Patrick Murphy of the Vt. Agency of Transportation.
In December, the agency announced over $9 million in federal funding for 11 new charging projects.
But earlier this month, President Trump paused billions of federal dollars meant for charger buildout. Now, VTrans’ buildout hangs in the balance.
“That uncertainty has had dramatic impacts on our state’s ability to build out our fast charging network in a timely manner, and so we’re still waiting to see how that becomes resolved,” said Murphy.
While construction season is months away, Murphy says the pause delays environmental permitting, risk mitigation and everything else that comes before installing new chargers.
He worries about the impacts of a longer funding freeze or permanent pull.
“It would substantially impact our program, the expectations of current and future EV drivers, our ability to build out a truly convenient, consistent national network that folks could rely upon,” he said.
Lockwood, who’s outspoken about the benefits of going electric, doesn’t want to see the state roll backward.
“It’s a bummer, because we’ve really had pretty good momentum going lately, and an EV adoption is going off the charts, you know,” said Lockwood.
Murphy says the agency sees the freeze as a temporary roadblock.
If federal cash is pulled for good, he says the agency will remain focused on buildout while searching for alternative funding.
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