Vermont Bestows $1M in Grants for Electric Charging Stations

MONTPELIER, Vt. — The state of Vermont has awarded $1 million in grant funding to subsidize the cost of purchasing and installing electric vehicle charging stations outside apartment buildings and other multi-unit properties to provide residents with access to at-home charging.

The pilot program, which is administered by the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development, is focused on affordable and nonprofit multi-unit housing providers. 

The first round of grant funding will result in 84 new high-speed charging ports at 37 locations across eight counties, reducing the at-home charging access barrier to EV ownership for 6,230 homes in affordable multifamily buildings.

“Through the EVSE Grant Program, we are making it easier to install convenient and reliable at-home charging solutions for residents living in affordable multifamily housing,” Gov. Phil Scott said in a written statement. 

“Steps like this are critical as we work to electrify the transportation sector, make EVs more accessible, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions,” he added.

The Department of Housing and Community Development received 16 applications for the first pilot round of the multiunit dwelling EVSE grant program, totaling $1.2 million in grant funding requests for 44 locations across eight counties. 

Applicants included a broad range of property owners, from large housing providers with proposals for multiple properties to smaller housing providers proposing a project for a single property. 

Projects also included residential members of condominium associations and utilities proposing locations in residential curbside parking. To ensure equitable geographic distribution of award funds, the program design included a self-imposed geographic cap.

 “This was a pilot program, and we didn’t know what the demand would be,” said department Commissioner Josh Hanford in a written statement.

“The geographic spread of applications and diversity of housing types that applied was impressive and showed us that there is a high level of interest in providing EV charging for multi- unit residents statewide which have resulted in additional funds to continue the program,” he said.

 Dan can be reached at [email protected] and at https://twitter.com/DanMcCue.