News Article

City of Portland joins area partners in a Tualatin-led effort to increase publicly accessible electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure throughout northwest Oregon.

This week, the U.S. Department of Transportation announced that the City of Tualatinand area partners will receive $15 million to bring publicly accessible EV charging infrastructure to the region as part of theCharging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program(CFI Program).

These funds will be used to install up to 500 publicly accessible level 2 networked EV chargers at approximately 125 unique sites across 17 different cities. This will focus on residents at multifamily buildings and to support other Oregonians without access to home EV charging. While no decisions have been made yet on how this money will be allocated to each jurisdiction, City of Portland staff is currently considering options for future level 2 EV chargers, informed by ongoing engagement with community partners.

Staff with Portland's Bureau of Planning and Sustainability (BPS) partnered with several Oregon cities and Forth, a nonprofit organization dedicated to the equitable advancement of clean transportation. Cities joining this effort include Beaverton, Forest Grove, Gresham, Hillsboro, King City, Lake Oswego, McMinnville, Milwaukie, Newberg, Oregon City, Salem, Sherwood, Tigard, Woodburn and Wood Village to support the City of Tualatin's grant application.

"This grant will help Portland and other local cities make significant strides on climate goals and support equitable access to EV infrastructure for all of our communities," said BPS Interim Director Eric Engstrom.

Portland General Electric also committed to $200,000 in funding from the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality's Clean Fuels Program to provide a matching grant supporting education and outreach activities.

The CFI Program was made possible by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to fund EV charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure projects. The grants announced this week seek to create American jobs and ensure more drivers can charge their electric vehicles where they live, work, and shop.