Future of Maine’s electric vehicle charging network in limbo as federal changes loom
Julia Tilton
April 18, 2025
The National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program was brought to a halt by the Trump administration in February. But states have interpreted federal guidance differently.
If you’re driving an electric vehicle up I-95 or 295 these days, particularly in York or Cumberland counties, odds are you won’t have to travel far before hitting a public charging station.
But head north and the stations taper off. Until recently, $5 billion in federal funding was set to change that, with a nationwide goal to build a network of public EV chargers along every 50 miles of designated roadway from Maine to California.
Known by its acronym ‘NEVI’ in the EV and policy worlds, the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program was brought to a halt by the Trump administration in February.
But the memo released on Feb. 5 by the Federal Highway Administration, which manages the program, drew confusion among states, leading some to halt construction while others pressed forward. Many, including Maine, have multiple NEVI-funded sites underway.
Building these sites is expensive. In Maine, $19.3 million in NEVI funding has been awarded to the state to install level three fast chargers, which can add 100 to 250 miles of charge in 30-45 minutes. The chargers, which have several ports to plug into, start in the tens of thousands of dollars. So far, Maine has inked plans to install a total of 62 ports across the state using $11 million of that NEVI money.
According to data compiled by Efficiency Maine Trust, the quasi-state agency for energy programs that handles reimbursement for the program, 15 sites have approval to use NEVI dollars, though two have since been cancelled. Two others were completed last year in Augusta and Rockland, making them among the country’s first NEVI-funded stations to open.
As for the rest of the sites, the Feb. 5 memo was vague about how NEVI’s suspension will impact their construction............................
Read the rest at https://themainemonitor.org/ev-charging-network-limbo/
*************************************
Fair Use Notice: This website may reproduce or have links to copyrighted material the use of which has not been expressly authorized by the copyright owner. We make such material available, without profit, as part of our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, economic, scientific, and related issues. It is our understanding that this constitutes a "fair use" of any such copyrighted material as provided by law. If you wish to use copyrighted material from this site for purposes that go beyond "fair use," you must obtain permission from the copyright owner.
Views: 6
Comment
-
Comment by Willem Post on Tuesday
-
As federal subsidies for EVs and charging stations disappear, the EVs, etc., disappear as well.
Net zero to reduce CO2 by 2050 is a suicide pact, invented by subsidy hucksters to keep the federal gravy train going for decades.
-
Comment by Dan McKay on Sunday
-
Give the EV and NEVI to the private market to advance or retreat as the profitability will dictate. This Government action to make all pay for an elite market to exist is as unconstitutional as making all pay to send people on ocean cruises.
Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
Not yet a member?
Sign up today and lend your voice and presence to the steadily rising tide that will soon sweep the scourge of useless and wretched turbines from our beloved Maine countryside. For many of us, our little pieces of paradise have been hard won. Did the carpetbaggers think they could simply steal them from us?
We have the facts on our side. We have the truth on our side. All we need now is YOU.
“First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win.”
-- Mahatma Gandhi
"It's not whether you get knocked down: it's whether you get up."
Vince Lombardi
Task Force membership is free. Please sign up today!
Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
© 2025 Created by Webmaster.
Powered by
You need to be a member of Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine to add comments!
Join Citizens' Task Force on Wind Power - Maine