(The Center Square) – The Seattle City Council has passed legislation that will allow the city to construct at least 10 to 20 new electric vehicle charging stations over the next two years.
The legislation allows Seattle City Light to lease private property to install and operate city-owned public electric vehicle charging stations. Private companies can also lease property owned by Seattle City Light to install and operate charging stations under the new legislation.
Seattle has worked to reduce greenhouse gas emissions citywide attributable to transportation. The ordinance states that installing electric vehicle charging stations is a “critical component of meeting the city’s goal that 90% of personal trips be zero emission by 2030.”
“Already in Seattle, electric vehicles represent 22.9% of new vehicle sales, and that’s the good news,” Seattle City Councilmember Sara Nelson said during Tuesday’s city council meeting. “The bad is that we don’t have enough conveniently located electric vehicle charging stations and that inhibits wider adoption.”
Two-thirds of new car sales must be zero-emission in Washington state by 2030.
The city expects that by making chargers more available to Seattleites who don’t have access to home charging systems, it will encourage the use of electric vehicles. According to the city, transportation emissions are the largest source of greenhouse gasses in Seattle at 61%.
Owners and operators of electric vehicle chargers will see additional revenue streams from the recently established Washington Clean Fuels Standard, which is administered by the Department of Ecology and aims to curb carbon pollution from the transportation sector by eliminating 4.3 million metric tons of carbon by 2038. Generated revenue can be redistributed into transportation electrification projects.
Seattle City Light-owned chargers on private property would generate additional revenue for the utility. Privately-owned chargers on Seattle City Light property will see revenue sent to the charger owner.
According to the ordinance, any leases will be paid from the city’s existing resources and costs are anticipated to be offset by user fees and external funding.
Seattle City Light would receive clean fuel credits under the state’s Clean Fuel Program with department-owned charging stations. These credits can be sold to redistribute revenue in transportation electrification and grid modernization projects and programs. According to the fiscal note, 30% of credit revenue from the program must be spent on transportation electrification projects within “overburdened communities.”
Seattle could turn to the Washington State Department of Ecology for grant funds to construct the charging stations. The Ecology Department, in conjunction with the Washington State Department of Commerce, recently announced two new programs for funding the installation of electric vehicle charging stations. The programs total $127.5 million in grant funding, as previously reported by The Center Square. The City of Seattle would need to apply for the grant funding next month as the Department of Commerce grants open Sept. 6, and the Department of Ecology grants open Sept. 26.
The bill passed unanimously out of the Seattle City Council and now goes to Seattle Mayor Bruce Harrell for his signature.
