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Expect to see more electric vehicle chargers in Wyoming and Teton County in coming years.
Alicia Cox leads Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities, a group promoting sustainable transportation. She said the federal program is “historic” and “huge” for the Cowboy State where electric vehicle ownership and charging stations are especially sparse.
She said their work has felt “inefficient” since the start of the year.
“There’s just been a lot of hesitancy and pauses that have been unfortunate,” Cox said.
Like when the Trump Administration paused a federal program in February that had been distributing over $7.5 billion to states over five years since 2022.
In Wyoming, that’s about $26 million for charging infrastructure along I-80, I-25 and I-90, distributed to applicants willing to bear 20% of the costs.
But federal guidance released this month unfreezes those funds and provides more flexibility for states to place chargers in more rural areas.
“With these changes,” Cox said, “it feels there can be a successful Wyoming program. I see that in the future.”
Harsh winters and vast distances between small communities in Wyoming have made implementing EV’s difficult. Wyoming still has to submit plans for the funding, expected next month, to be approved by the feds, according to the Wyoming Department of Transportation.
Cox said that’s one of three sources that together mean “things are looking up.”
The state is still sitting on another $1.5 million remaining from a Volkswagen settlement. And Teton County is continuing to distribute about $5 million more from the feds specifically for charging stations in the valley.
The Wyoming Department of Environmental Quality is now accepting grant applications for Volkswagen settlement funds. Teton County has awarded some of the funds from its grant already, including for chargers at the Stilson Transit Center, currently under construction.
“I think we are kind of poised nicely to really expand our infrastructure strategically and effectively for our state,” Cox said.
Cox adds that federal tax rebates to buy an electric vehicle are ending next month. She said with the rebates ending soon, and an influx of millions of dollars available for charging infrastructure in the state, now is the time to buy an electric vehicle.
She hopes planned stations will boost tourism in communities and encourage more Wyomingites to buy EVs in the state and Teton County, where over half of greenhouse gas emissions are from surface transportation.
