CRANBERRY TWP, PA — Pennsylvania on Friday opened a new $25 million funding round to expand electric vehicle charging infrastructure across western Pennsylvania, extending a federally funded buildout that has made the Commonwealth the national leader in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program deployments.
The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation said the funding will support public charging stations across 17 western counties through the Community Charging phase of the NEVI program. The initiative marks the second regional funding round after southeastern Pennsylvania received funding allocations earlier this year.
The announcement comes as Pennsylvania continues to outpace other states in deploying federally funded EV charging stations. PennDOT said 37 NEVI-funded stations are currently operating statewide, more than any other state, while another 55 stations are in various stages of planning and construction. Nearly $62 million in federal funding has already been committed to charging projects across the Commonwealth.
The western funding round is part of a broader $100 million Community Charging initiative designed to place charging infrastructure in commercial districts, community facilities, and other publicly accessible locations. Eligible counties include Allegheny, Beaver, Butler, Erie, Washington, Westmoreland and 11 other western Pennsylvania counties.
“The most critical element when considering an EV is knowing where you can charge it,” PennDOT Secretary Mike Carroll said. “We’re directing investments to new chargers in communities that need them and improving EV accessibility for everyone.”
Regional planning organizations will help identify priority locations for investment, though PennDOT said all publicly available sites within the region will be eligible to apply for funding. Additional funding rounds covering eastern and central Pennsylvania are expected to open later this summer.
Rich Fitzgerald, executive director of the Southwest Pennsylvania Commission, said the program could help attract more EV drivers to commercial districts and community destinations throughout the region.
PennDOT said the state’s NEVI-funded network has supported more than 106,000 charging sessions since the first station opened in December 2023, enabling an estimated 12.7 million miles of travel and reducing carbon dioxide emissions by more than 2,700 metric tons.
The funding announcement also comes amid an ongoing legal dispute over federal transportation funding. According to PennDOT, the Shapiro administration is challenging actions by the U.S. Department of Transportation that it says are withholding congressionally approved EV charging funds. State officials noted Pennsylvania previously joined a multistate lawsuit that resulted in the NEVI program being reinstated.
Organizations interested in pursuing Community Charging funding can find additional information and partnership opportunities through PennDOT’s EV infrastructure program website.
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