City looks to install EV charging station, seeks federal grant

O’Fallon will proceed with installation of electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at selected city properties, if it can take advantage of the 2024 Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program that is part of the federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law passed in Nov. 2022. The grant would cover 80% of the cost for the EV charging stations.

At its Aug. 22 meeting, the City Council passed a resolution 6-4, authorizing submittal of an application for that federal funding. The deadline for that application is Aug. 29. Council members Deana Smith (Ward 1), Tom “Duke” Herweck (Ward 2), Debbie Cook (Ward 5) and Linda Ragsdale (Ward 5) voted against the resolution.

Working with energy consultant Veregy, city staff balanced the number of EV charging sites between the north and south areas of the city. Staff also investigated demographics of visitors using the sites.

Assuming the grant application is approved, EV chargers will be placed at city hall, O’Day Park, the Ozzie Sports Complex, the Renaud Center and Westhoff Park.

A separate project was evaluated to replace the existing EV charger located at Krekel Civic Center with a dual Level 2 charger. The federal CFI grant requires a minimum of four charging locations per site, so the Krekel location was not eligible to be included in the 2024 grant. However, Veregy believed it to be likely that a separate rebate will be available in the near future from a local entity. City staff now will look for available rebates during the pending grant application in an attempt to time the installations together.

If the federal CFI grant is approved, the 20% match responsibility will be budgeted in 2025. The replacement EV charger at the Krekel Civic Center will be fully budgeted in 2025 with the goal of locating a rebate for a sizable portion of the charger.