Indiana DOT Announces First Round of Awards to Expand Electric Vehicle Charging Network

The Indiana Department of Transportation (INDOT) announced a first round of 39 awards for its Charging the Crossroads program on March 28, 2024. The program utilizes funding under the National Electrical Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program created by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to install electric vehicle charging stations along Indiana’s Alternative Fuels Corridors (AFCs). Indiana will soon join Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania, and Hawaii as one of the first states to deploy NEVI-funded charging stations. Alaska, Colorado, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Michigan, New Mexico, Rhode Island, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia, and Utah have also announced initial awards for NEVI-funded charging stations. Indiana joins these states in the early-to-market echelon of NEVI-funded projects with a program reflective of INDOT’s lessons learned in prior cutting edge infrastructure programs and its record of successful implementation.

The NEVI program provides $5 billion in dedicated funding to states to strategically deploy electric vehicle charging infrastructure along AFCs throughout the interstate highway system.  INDOT’s Charging the Crossroads program leverages these NEVI program funds by partnering with owner-operators who will fund 20% of the costs of installing, maintaining, and operating the charging sites for five years. The initial round of awards for 39 charging sites comes after receipt of over 100 applications from potential owner-operators in response to last year’s Notice of Funding Opportunity (NOFO) released by INDOT. 

INDOT expects construction and installation of charging sites from this first round of awards to begin in 2025 after awardees complete the site procurement and contracting process. INDOT anticipates the release of a second NOFO for the program later this year focused on charging sites that address gaps in Indiana’s charging network. In total, INDOT estimates a total investment of nearly $100 million to build out Indiana’s electric vehicle charging network.

Attorneys in Ballard Spahr’s P3/Infrastructure Group were privileged to have worked with INDOT and its adviser team to help prepare INDOT’s NEVI implementation documents. The attorneys in Ballard Spahr’s P3/Infrastructure Group continue to monitor the ever evolving NEVI program regulatory landscape and routinely assist clients in navigating the development, implementation, and ongoing management of complex project delivery methods involving federal funding.

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