Albany’s first and only city-owned public EV charging station in December 2023, the last time I checked on it.
Albany’s plan to add four public electric-vehicle charging stations with federal help is on hold because the federal help is unlikely to come about.
President Trump has issued an executive order on federal energy policy that discourages federal aid or regulations in support of electric vehicles over conventional ones.
The city council voted on Jan. 8 to accept a federal grant of $1.8 million to cover 80 percent of the estimated cost of installing the four charging stations.
The city staff had proposed that the city street fund pay the required local match of 20 percent if necessary. The council, though, specified that the city would accept bids only from contractors that paid for the required local share on their own.
On Thursday, City Manager Peter Troedsson told the council in his weekly report that prospects for the federal grant had all but evaporated.
” Yesterday we were notified by the Federal Highway Administration that this grant program was indefinitely suspended as a result of President Trump’s Executive Order on Unleashing American Energy. While it appears a final decision on the availability of this funding has not been reached, there is no indication that the city can expect to move forward with this project. … Because we were awarded late in the cycle and did not get a signed grant agreement, it seems probable that our grant award will be rescinded. At this point, staff are not moving forward on the project but, as always, we’re continuing to look for other funding opportunities to improve Albany’s infrastructure.”
The president’s order is worth reading. It covers many aspects of federal involvement in energy and, if it’s carried out, will put the country on a sound course. (hh)
Thank God President Trump is helping to unburden the unfair tax on poor people that cannot afford electric vehicles. When they extract money from your monthly electric bill in support of EV infrastructure that you are unable to take advantage of, it’s just a matter of making the poor people worse off.
Inasmuch as those “poor people” as you call them can’t buy a new ICE vehicle either, it’s a specious argument methinks.
Why should we worry when China is totally eating our lunch with growth on EVs (and all other country’s combined too!) to the detriment of ICE vehicles – and – all the global ICE manufactures still want to make buggy whips. They are now getting their heads out of their rears and pouring huge amounts of money into their EV endeavors, albeit very late to the party. The China developments are already starting to factor into future oil use predictions too.
It is time to stop our green worship of the electric car. It costs us a fortune, cuts little CO2 and surprisingly kills almost twice the number of people compared with regular gasoline cars.
Bjorn Lomborg
Tell that to the Chinese and all the other global ICE mfg. chasing them…
Yep, the Chinese are selling lots of EVs in China. But in China electric cars are coal-powered cars. Their tailpipe is long.
Dirty emissions are the dirty little secret of electric cars.
How does that improve the environment?
Some people just can’t tolerate change.
I disagree. Most people can tolerate change.
What we can’t tolerate is the heavy-hand of government forcing us to do — or not do — certain things.
I agree with you, Ray. And, that is unusual for me. I will try to stick with Hasso’s blog for the occasional update on Geary Street crossing and other street re-construction and the traffic cameras, but don’t know if I can. Damn it, Hasso. You are the owner and writer of the blog. Can you cough up a little of your journalism training and spare us your Republican and Libertarian and Oligarch-ish thoughts? Enough with your opinions on Trump’s virtues. Got news for ‘ya; he has no virtues. Well, he probably loves his kids, so there is one virtue. That is all I can give him.
Specious is a word you like to throw out as if it elevates your position and demeans others. KMA!
But many can afford a USED petroleum powered vehicle. Making everyone dependent on electricity allows a government to exert pretty much total control over the citizens due to electric meters. Tyrants such as yourself work toward that end.
“KMA” – Yes, that’s very intelligent of you…
.
NO one will ever knock on your door to take away your:
* ICE vehicle
or
* .Natural gas appliance
If you believe they will… Well, only the paranoid survive – eh?
But they can shut off your electricity by the click of a mouse. THAT IS MY POINT. Funny how you didn’t mention ELECTRICITY. The norm of your disingenuous self.
KMA is an expression directed directly at you and your entitled astitude. You aren’t nearly as smart as you think. Hanging around PERS employees leads to a warped sense of reality.
Common sense and the Laws of Physics prevail.
Converting weather-dependent, uncontrollable inputs into a reliable source of electricity is neither efficient or cost effective.
Wind and solar and Chinese dominated, limited shelf-life, batteries can’t compete with domestically produced oil and natural gas.
And hopefully a future executive order removes the self-imposed leash of another efficient, cost-effective, controllable, and reliable source – nuclear.
Score one for the hoi polloi over the environmental snobs and fear mongers.
“Converting weather-dependent, uncontrollable inputs into a reliable source of electricity is neither efficient or cost effective. ….. Wind and solar and Chinese dominated, limited shelf-life, batteries can’t compete with domestically produced oil and natural gas.
You are clueless on this one Gordon. Before I put up my solar system and battery backup, my average monthly electric cost from Portland General Electric from June 2019 to May 2022, my total monthly charges averaged to $124.78 per month. Since then, my total billing to December 2024 averaged to $33.55 per month. And that includes the “fuel” for my EV, not just house-load.
Think of how much different it would have been if not for the fact that PGE gets the majority of it’s electricity from the Bonneville hydro dams.
P.S. My solar panels were manufactured in Bellingham, WA. My 14kW LIPO battery backup pack was manufactured in Mexico. My KIA EV9 was manufactured in South Korea, but they are now being manufactured at a new plant in Georgia.
Correction: PGE now only gets 11% of power from large hydro. 31% is from renewables, 36% from natural gas, and 9% from Nuclear.
I am OK with nuclear as long as it also includes the full costs for lifetime storage of nuclear wastes, which is why most companies don’t want to be on the hook for that cost and aren’t building new plants. Renewable are WAY cheaper. Which states are the biggest developers of renewable power? Check out what Motley Fool says:
https://www.fool.com/research/renewable-energy-by-state/
Has Trump forgotten his promise to bring down the price of eggs? Apparently he’s too busy doing other important matters such as Greenland, Canada, the Panama Canal Zone, etc. The mythology that he’s “unleashing American energy” is absurd. The US is already the world’s #1 producer of oil and natural gas. Apparently Exxon and others made important political campaign contributions to Trump. Similar to TikTok. Recall that Trump is a convicted felon. In the real world, the word of a felon is generally viewed as unreliable. Too bad for all of America…and shame that the people of this once-great nation elected a felon.
Enough with this “felon” crap. Being prosecuted by political enemies in a trumped-up case is no crime.
While that is a P.O.V., until-if-when he is pardoned (or it is overturned by other means), he is a duly-convicted felon by the existing laws supposedly we all have to abide…
Hasso: Who made you God and a Judge at the same time and the author of our Laws!!
So, you are the Supreme Arbitrator of what is a felony and who is guilty of them?
Did you happen to see whose name is at the top of this blog? What a sense of entitlement.
Because the shoe fits, Trump must wear it. Hasso seems to think it is okay for SOME to break the law with impunity but, in Hering’s earnestly suggested jail time for homeless and the grafitti artists. The hypocrisy has not escaped me.
Hasso wasn’t he was found guilt by a jury after listening to evidence? Not by his opponents?
lets see, Democrat Judge, Democrat presiding Judge, Democrat Prosecutor who ran on the premise that he was going after Trump, Jury drawn from a 95% Democrat body, and you wonder if it was his enemies? seriously…….
Keep up the good work, hartman. I knew for years that Hasso is a Republican/Libertarian, but I gave him the benefit of the doubt and assumed he was not stupid enough or mean enough to be a Trumper. I was wrong. His comment that Trump being a felon is crap is too much for me. I’m outta here! (I’ll miss reading your posts.)
It is sad they don’t support clean energy. The support big oil gets is amazing. We have the best politician money can buy.
I’m an EV owner.I paid $35,000 for my brand new car. A GM product. NOT buying gasoline offset my car payments. I don’t attend public schools but I pay taxes for them. Electric is the future and it is here. America should just let other countries own rhe EV market and sell them worldwide, since it’s obvious our current president doesn’t want us to participate. Like everyone else I’ll make adjustments to the sacrifices our President will demand of us.
Recently I heard from an acquaintance who lives in Mt. Vernon. Washington that the City of Mount Vernon had built a new library (library on the ground level with three levels of parking above) and installed 46 charging stations.
NONE OF THE CHARGING STATIONS WORK and the company who sold them has declared bankruptcy and left the US! Another company has told them that the can hack into the computer system and make them work but that they cannot guarantee parts.
Washington prohibits parking a non charging vehicle at a charging station so, as of now they are losing 46 parking spaces.
Buyer beware! All may not be as it may seem!!!!
Now, it’s good to check sources, if you had you would have found out this:
https://www.fox13seattle.com/news/largest-ev-charging-mount-vernon
The date of the announcement was Sept 28, 2024. It would seem likely that they haven’t all been built yet Vannice, so how can you say “NONE OF THE CHARGING STATIONS WORK”?
Now I happened to recharge in a Station in Mt. Vernon last October. There are already quite a few in the surrounding area. Most Wal-Mart’s near freeways have charging stations, just like in Albany and Salem.
I’ve charged at several of them in the last year.
What was the name of the “company who sold them has declared bankruptcy and left the US!” and “Another company has told them that the can hack into the computer system and make them work but that they cannot guarantee parts.” Or did you make that up out of thin air?
As of January 25, 2025 (today) Plugshare.com, a company that tracks charging stations all across North America says there are 249 station in Mt Vernon – Anacortes area. (BTW a station is a single charging plug-in. Most locations have multiple stations.)
https://www.plugshare.com/directory/us/washington/mount-vernon-anacortes
I’ve charged at several of them in the last year.
How can four battery chargers in an already established location cost $2,171,000? Or am I misunderstanding something?
There’s the real question of this article.
When our house was built in 2019, I had a 220 volt 50 amp circuit put in our garage so that I had capability for a good Level 2 charger. It was about $1100 extra as I remember. The actual charger that I bought came later in 2023 and it cost me $550 from Amazon.
The public fast chargers (300 to 800 volt service) are WAY more expensive’ (Level 3) From Google:
The cost to install a Level 3 EV fast-charge station can range from $20,000 to over $150,000, depending on the charger’s power, the number of chargers, and the installation site.
Factors that affect the cost
Charger power: The capacity of the charger, which can range from 50 kW to 350 kW
Number of chargers: The more chargers installed, the lower the cost per charger
Installation site: The existing electrical infrastructure, the distance to the nearest power source, and the need for additional site work
Electrical upgrades: The need for upgrades to the transformer, utility service, or wiring
Permits and regulations: The cost of obtaining the necessary permits and complying with local regulations
Labor costs: The cost of labor for installation
Cost estimates
A single DC fast charger can cost between $20,000 and $100,000
A 150 to 350kW DCFC charging unit can cost anywhere from $45,000 to over $100,000
A Level 3 home charger installation could cost up to $50,000
Thanks for the help.
I’ve owned a manufacturing company for over 30 years in 4 locations and every one of them had 3 phase power using a 400 amp box and your costs are grossly overstated. The government might spend $50,000 for a 3 phase charger but I could put one in my plant for virtually nothing but having to buy the charger.
As far as China is concerned, my information is they have a 100 new coal plants being built so green energy savings by the US are a joke so the fact they are building electric cars is irrelevant.
And I’m happy that all you Biden pardon lovers hate Trump. Enjoy the next 4 years.
too funny! trump el kabongs albany charging stations! we voted in common sense, common sense over rules the city of albany building ev charging stations. real simple how that worked.
It is wise for the City to kick this to the curb, the City Manager before our current one told me that “if we do not take Federal Funds, someone else will so we should grab them while we can”.
What do you think the response will be from DOGE when we ask for millions to buy more buses to give rides for free to people who pay nothing for an $8 ride in a bus that is mostly empty? When I suggested that we buy smaller buses I was told that we do not pay most of the bill and so the buses are almost free anyway…….. well bureaucrats, stand by cause it won’t be long.
I think an area of concern is can the electric power grid support the supply and demand factor. I also dont understand why there isnt a more concentrated effort as an incremental step towards hyrbrid vehicles. We have owned and operated two hybrids and the results year over year have been outstanding.
Months ago there was a short reference on this blog about solar farms and signing up as a residential electric consumer. I contacted Arcadia several times by phone and email and absolutely no one at Arcadia would give me a straight answer as to how much I would have to pay monthly or in their annual fee structure.
The result of my conversations with Arcadia showed I would end up paying even more for electricity to support Arcadia and their payroll so I could feel good about my green energy contribution. Those answers were not acceptable at all to us and it took some time to get off their email marketing list.