Connecticut Makes It Through the NEVI Gauntlet Mostly Intact
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure, which was a part of the Biden-era Infrastructure and Jobs Act, awarded grants to states to, in turn, award funds for the building of EV charging infrastructure. The program has been a target of the Trump Administration. After unilaterally freezing funds on two occasions only to be rebuffed by the courts, the program was restarted with some new rules and a stringent buy-America provision. Subsequently, $500 million was cut in appropriations bills passed this year. And the budget submitted by the White House for FY 2026-27 seeks further cuts of $4 billion in next year’s appropriations, though it’s hard to believe there is that much left to cut.
Since the program was designed to be administered at the state level, and states had to submit a plan to obtain their award, the pace of the awards and the building of chargers has varied widely across the country. The original bill was passed in 2021, but CT has only gotten shovels in the dirt this year. The disruptions didn’t help. However, the CT DOT did have a plan in place and was able to secure most of the originally designated funds. When the bill was passed, the CT share was $52.5 million. After this legal and budgetary roller-coaster, the final tally is $51 million. CT plans are grandfathered in and will not be affected by the increased and arguably unrealistic buy-America requirements. And, according to DOT, any cuts in next year’s budget are not expected to affect CT. The federal funds have a 20% state match.
There are 9 sites where construction is either underway or grants are in the process of being awarded. The specific locations can be seen in the map at the top of the post. The specific addresses are listed in this earlier blog post. An upcoming solicitation for what is dubbed phase 1b is expected in the next few weeks.