DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

RCW 47.04.350 directs the Washington state department of transportation public-private partnership office to develop a pilot program to support the deployment of electric vehicle charging infrastructure that is supported by private financing.

The pilot program will consist solely of projects that provide a benefit to the public through development, demonstration, and deployment of clean energy technologies that save energy and reduce energy costs, reduce harmful air emissions or otherwise increase energy independence for the state.

Funds will be available for the deployment of electric vehicle fast-charging stations at key locations along state and federal highway corridors to support interurban, interstate, and interregional travel.

Bidder: Nonprofit organizations and government agencies including, but not limited to, federal, state and local public agencies such as cities, counties, municipal corporations, special purpose districts, tribes, ports, air quality districts, public utility districts, transit systems, and regional organizations serving areas adjacent to highway corridors.

Corridor: A state or federal highway and interconnected streets connecting communities or destinations and serving major sources of vehicular travel within the state of Washington.

Department: Washington state department of transportation.

Electric vehicle charging station: Products or assemblies installed for the purpose of safely delivering and managing the transfer of electrical energy from an electrical source to an electric vehicle.

Eligible project or project: The installation of one or more electric vehicle charging stations along a corridor within the state of Washington.

Indirect value: Benefits of the project that may accrue to project participants other than for the use of the charging equipment.

Industry standard charging equipment: Nonpropriety electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) that meets the common standards used for most mass-produced makes and models of plug-in electric vehicles sold in North America including, but not limited to, CHAdeMO, SAE CCS, and SAE J1772.

Owner-operator: An entity involved in installing and operating charging equipment including, but not limited to, dedicated charging service companies, charging equipment manufacturers, property owners acting as site hosts, automakers, electric utilities, electricity generators, and state and local governments.

Private sector partner: An entity contributing to the project who stands to gain indirect value from development of the project including, but not limited to, a motor vehicle manufacturer, retail store, nonprofit organization, or tourism stakeholder.

Profitable and sustainable: Yielding profit or financial gain after the initial project investment and the financial ability to maintain the equipment over time. Projects that strongly demonstrate their financial sustainability within a five-year performance period may be prioritized.

Project: Deployment of publicly accessible electric vehicle fast-charging stations at one or more accessible locations along a corridor.

The department shall define the corridors within which bidders may propose to install electric vehicle charging infrastructure. Priority corridors include Interstate 5, U.S. Highway 2, Interstate 90, U.S. Highway 101, Interstate 82, U.S. Highway 395, and roadways connecting midsize communities and major tourist destinations.

The department believes having publicly accessible electric vehicle fast chargers in forty-mile interval along corridors will provide the basic network necessary to enable vehicle travel between communities. The department further recognizes that an effective corridor requires redundancy and fault tolerance, especially in high-use areas. Bidders are encouraged to submit proposals that clearly support the department's goal of a minimum forty-mile interval target and/or that add capacity/redundancy in congested, high-volume areas for a more robust, dependable charging network. Bidders must explain how their project will lead to the eventual build out of the corridor, and/or planned future charging infrastructure along the corridor.

A bidder may submit a proposal for a project in a corridor that is not listed above as a priority corridor. The department will consider such proposals under the following guidelines:

• Must meet the requirements listed in WAC 468-602-040.

• Must provide supporting evidence that charging stations will be located where the charging services are in demand by electric vehicle customers.

Projects shall provide safe, convenient, cost-competitive, reliable, and easy access for drivers to recharge mass-produced plug in electric vehicles with industry standard charging equipment. Projects shall expand the network of infrastructure geographically along underserved roadways and/or strengthen the existing network by providing equipment that is compatible with more makes and models of vehicles and by providing additional locations for fault tolerance and redundancy. The department shall ensure projects meet the following requirements:

(1) Bidders must have private sector partners contributing to the project who stand to gain indirect value from development of the project including, but not limited to, motor vehicle manufacturers, retail stores, or tourism stakeholders;

(2) Bidders must demonstrate that the proposed project will be valuable to electric vehicle drivers and will address a gap in the state's electric vehicle charging station infrastructure;

(3) Projects must be expected to be profitable and sustainable over time for the owner-operator and/or the private sector partner, inclusive of indirect value gained;

(4) Bidders must specify how the project captures the indirect value of charging station deployment to the private sector partner;

(5) Bidders and their private sector partners must agree to operate and maintain the stations for at least five years and must meet the requirements in the department's solicitation materials for networked equipment offerings, station operations and uptime, public access, payment options, customer service, signage, and period of performance; and

(6) Bidders and their private sector partners have the ability to reinvest any proceeds from ongoing operations to expand the power and amount of chargers at a given site to accommodate higher utilization rates in the future.

The selection process shall comply with all applicable state laws and policies that govern the department. Solicitations will include, but are not limited to, the following steps:

• Appointment of a procurement coordinator;

• A schedule of procurement activities;

• Bidder question and answer period;

• Public notification of apparently successful bidder;

• An optional bidder debrief; and

• Complaint and protest procedures.

In evaluating proposals, the department may use the electric vehicle financial analysis tool developed during the joint transportation committee's study of financing models for electric vehicle charging station infrastructure if the tool is made available to all potential bidders.

The department may award only one grant or loan per project from the electric vehicle charging infrastructure account.