A few dozen electric vehicle charging stations are coming into disadvantaged communities in Maryland and Virginia, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments announced.
The initiative is being funded using nearly $4 million in grant funding that the COG received from the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration.
In Maryland, the stations will be installed in Frederick and Prince George’s counties. In Virginia, they’ll be installed in Alexandria, Arlington, Fairfax city and county and Manassas.
About 60% of the charging stations will serve disadvantaged communities, and some of them will be installed in rural neighborhoods, too.
“We’ve worked with area officials to identify equity emphasis areas, and so these are communities that have higher concentrations of low-income and minority communities across the region where we want to make sure that we are bringing the benefits of all of our work to these communities,” said Maia Davis, a senior environmental planner with COG.
As part of the plan, the EV charging stations will be deployed at community centers, libraries, parks, recreation centers and historic districts, Davis said. They’ll also be in low-income, multifamily dwellings.
There will also be listening sessions in disadvantaged communities “to really get a sense of how they feel about this and what they’re looking for, for electric vehicles and electric vehicle infrastructure in their communities,” Davis said.
The COG, Davis said, created a regional EV infrastructure implementation strategy and considered “areas in the region that are lacking in infrastructure, that need infrastructure. Where do we need to put infrastructure in rural communities? Where do we need to put infrastructure with fast charging where people are commuting?”
The region is working to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 50% by 2030, Davis said. EV ownership, meanwhile, grew 450% in the region between 2016 and 2020.
With the new chargers, “we’re going to be able to reduce about 290 short tons of greenhouse gases annually,” Davis said.
When COG applied for the program funding last year, there weren’t any EV charging stations in Brunswick, Maryland, Davis said. There’s one now, and through the program, a second will be added soon.
Get breaking news and daily headlines delivered to your email inbox by signing up here.
© 2024 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.
