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WINDSOR – The Town of Windsor is among the 64 recipients of state money that is earmarked for the installation or expansion of electric vehicle charging stations.

All totaled, North Carolina will distribute more than $6.8 million for these projects, which includes the Granville Street Charging Station in Windsor. That project is slated to receive $119,568. Another $17,500 is committed in matching funds, bringing the total value of the project to $137,068.

“We’ve worked hard on this project and are very grateful to the state for providing these funds to install this charging station,” stated Allen Castelloe, Windsor Town Administrator.

Castelloe said the project would consist of two, rapid charging stations that will be placed in a town-owned parking lot located adjacent to the DMV office on Granville Street.

“Our board [town commissioners] accepted the grant at their meeting last week. What we’re waiting on now is the paperwork – the grant agreement documents – and from that point we can put the project out for bids,” Castelloe said.

Castelloe added that he is hopeful that construction on the project will begin in the spring of next year.

Selected projects will enhance and extend the current zero-emission vehicle infrastructure network from the mountains to the coast, reducing range anxiety and supporting efforts to decrease emissions of greenhouse gases and other air pollutants from the transportation sector.

The N.C. Department of Environmental Quality’s (DEQ) Division of Air Quality (DAQ) is awarding the grants and rebates under Phase 2 of the N.C. Volkswagen Settlement Program, which uses funds from the national settlement with the automaker.

Among the awards is nearly $5.9 million in grants to fund the installation of 104 new DC Fast charging ports at 40 sites along priority corridors and major coastal evacuation routes, from Murphy to Manteo. Priority corridors include segments along interstates 40, 77, 85 and 95 as well as several highways across the state without existing charging infrastructure. These projects will fill gaps in the charging network along these corridors.

DC Fast chargers offer rapid charging and are suitable along major highways because they allow drivers to quickly continue to their destination.

In this program, 75 percent of the awarded funds will go to projects in rural counties, and nearly half will go to historically under-resourced counties that DEQ targeted for additional outreach and support during the Phase 2 application process. Windsor qualified on both of those qualifications.

Thirty-three of the 40 charging sites will have 100 percent of their power covered with renewable energy credits.

In selecting awards for this program, DAQ coordinated with the N.C. Department of Transportation to maximize funding for charging infrastructure that meets the requirements in the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program. NC Volkswagen Settlement funding was awarded to install 30 DC Fast charging ports in the state that will already be NEVI compliant, aligning with NCDOT’s goal of using $109 million in federal funding to build out electric vehicle infrastructure along approved corridors.

These awards aim to increase the use of clean zero-emission vehicles in place of gas-powered cars and improve air quality by significantly reducing emissions of nitrogen oxides, particulate matter and greenhouse gases. DAQ estimates that the DC Fast and Level 2 chargers will together prevent more than 26,500 pounds of nitrogen oxides from being emitted into the atmosphere each year.