Montpelier, Vt. – Governor Phil Scott announced today that the Department of Housing and Community Development (DHCD) has awarded $1 million in grant funds to subsidize the cost of purchasing and installing electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at multiunit properties to provide residents with at-home charging access. The Multiunit Dwelling Electric Vehicles Supply Equipment (EVSE) Grant Program was a pilot program to gauge interest and reduce financial barriers to EV ownership.
The program’s pilot focused on affordable and non-profit multiunit housing providers. The first round of awarded projects will result in 84 new Level 2 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,” said Governor Scott. “Steps like this are critical as we work to electrify the transportation sector, make EVs more accessible, and reduce greenhouse gas emissions.”
DHCD 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 DHCD Commissioner Josh Hanford. “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 multiunit residents statewide which have resulted in additional funds to continue the program.”
Governor Scott approved another $3 million this legislative session in funding to continue the program. For more information about the Multiunit Dwelling Electric Vehicle Charging Grant Program and to learn more about upcoming rounds of funding visit the DHCD website.