Mountain West states continue to roll out millions of federal dollars for electric vehicle charging stations, with an eye on gaps in remote areas.
While states like Colorado have forged ahead funding chargers, others have been slow to roll out programs. That includes Wyoming, which — after several years of delay — is finally inching closer to getting chargers on the ground.
The Cowboy State is now asking private companies to submit proposals to build charging stations and get 80% of costs covered. It’s the first time since it was awarded National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure funds in 2022.
Wyoming, known for its fossil fuel industries, has a mixed history with supporting electric vehicles: At first, it turned down its approximately $27 million allocation, arguing the Biden administration's rule of putting chargers every 50 miles along interstates was too rigid. Now, under the Trump administration, the state has more flexibility to put chargers on remote, rural highways, for example.
Wyoming identified clusters across wide swaths of the state where new stations could go.
“Tourism is one of Wyoming’s big three economic industries, and we think these strategic clusters will help alleviate EV driver range anxiety in rural areas,” Keith Fulton, Wyoming Department of Transportation’s chief engineer, said in a press release.
Alicia Cox hopes to see new stations along I-80 but also near Riverton and Cody, around Yellowstone National Park. She leads Yellowstone-Teton Clean Cities, a nonprofit that advocates for EVs in Montana, Wyoming and eastern Idaho.
“I think the federal funds are really important to make sure that there's the stations where everyone needs it, not just in the populated locations,” she said.
Cox added that while Wyoming residents have been slow to adopt electric vehicles, more residents are now going electric. Plus, visitors often come from Colorado, Utah or California, which have higher adoption rates.
It’s been difficult to roll out funding in short-staffed states like Wyoming and Montana, which could also start calling for proposals from companies as soon as early 2027, Cox said. Representatives from the transportation departments in Idaho and Nevada, which have also been slow to use dollars, say they’ll start calling for proposals soon, though they didn’t give specific timelines.
Delaying spending has meant big funding cuts for some states. Nevada, for example, lost one-third of its funding due to congressional cuts, from about $38 million to around $25 million.
Still, Kandee Bahr Worley, who’s leading the effort at the Nevada Department of Transportation, said the state is moving ahead with implementation.
“Our planned approach is to prioritize upgrading or replacing older charging stations to improve reliability, particularly in rural communities, followed by addressing gaps along Nevada’s designated alternative fuel corridor,” Bahr Worley wrote in an email.
Meanwhile, Colorado has funded 242 electric vehicle ports, according to data from the National Association of State Energy Officials.
“They already had state funding and state programs that were very similar to this,” Cox explained.
Colorado just funded an additional 270 new ports using federal and state dollars.
In Wyoming, companies have until Nov. 18 to apply for the first round.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Boise State Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Northern Colorado, KANW in New Mexico, Colorado Public Radio and KJZZ in Arizona as well as NPR, with support from affiliate newsrooms across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and Eric and Wendy Schmidt.
