Kentucky’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Deployment Plan, which outlines Kentucky’s high-priority EV corridors, was submitted to the U.S. Joint Office of Energy and Transportation in late July and has now been approved. Federal funding for the first two years of the program will be provided to the Kentucky Transportation Cabinet (KYTC) over the next few months. With matching funds, a total of $86.9 million will be available for EV charging infrastructure over the next five years.
“Our goal is to have a statewide network of EV chargers by 2025,” KYTC Secretary Jim Gray said. “Approval of our EV plan by the federal government now ensures Kentucky will receive $25 million in federal funds this year to begin to design and build that network, starting with our interstates and parkways.”
Ensuring that counties get their fair share of electric vehicle fee and charging station taxes is a top 2023 legislative priority for KACo.
Counties own and maintain half of the road miles and a third of bridges in our state. KACo supports distributing Kentucky’s electric vehicle fee and charging station tax through the current road funding formula to ensure that counties receive a substantial portion of these funds.
What’s next?
On Aug. 24, KYTC issued a Request for Information (RFI) from the private sector related to the deployment of DCFC stations on the EV AFC corridors. The RFI is a precursor to developing a request for proposals for the deployment of DCFC stations on the EV AFCs. Local communities and other agencies can apply for competitive grants to fund electric vehicle charging stations later in 2022 or early 2023 after the U.S. Department of Transportation has issued further guidance and a notice of funding opportunity.
Responses to the RFI must be submitted via email to EVPlan@ky.gov no later than 5 p.m. EDT on Sept. 30, 2022. For additional information, visit governor.ky.gov/betterky.