Downtown Chehalis to go electric with state-sponsored fast EV chargers
May 15-Chehalis will soon host a third site for electric vehicle (EV) charging in what is currently an empty lot next to the Lewis County Public Health building.
The Lewis County Board of Commissioners approved state grant funds during a Tuesday morning business meeting.
The short resolution related to the project officially accepts the $1,056,000 in grant funds from the Washington state Department of Transportation (WSDOT) and commits the county to matching 20% of that funding from its own accounts to complete the project.
The grant is part of the WSDOT Zero-Emissions Vehicle Infrastructure Partnership Program Grant.
According to the grant agreement document, it will bring the first EV charging station to the downtown Chehalis site, the fourth such station in city limits.
The document goes into deeper detail about the new project. According to the description, the installation will coincide with a project by the county to regrade, pave, curb and line the lot as a proper parking lot. The lot is currently - and will continue to be - accessible to the public at all hours and any day of the week.
According to the grant document, the entire project, including both the EV charger project and repaving, will cost around $1.9 million. The county will put forward approximately $211,000 for the chargers and related infrastructure along with about $635,000 toward the parking lot improvement not related to the chargers.
The project also includes partnerships with the Lewis County Public Utility District, which will help with electrifying the site, and ToledoTel, which is likely to help with the operation of the chargers. The grant document suggested that the county is likely to acquire the new chargers from CharePoint, Inc., the same chargers used in at least 10 EV charging stations across Lewis County and South Thurston County.
The unincorporated community of Mineral in the northern part of Lewis County celebrated two new quick EV chargers of the same model just last week with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.
According to the grant agreement, the city of Chehalis itself has two EV charging sites located next to each other near the Chehalis Home Depot and a third that is only open at certain hours at the Awesome Ford location on the south side of town.
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