Committee endorses staff recommendations for NEVI community charging priorities, targets disadvantaged communities

The Pats Coordinating Committee approved staff recommendations April 24 that will guide a community‑charging application under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program.

Staff described outreach that included a public survey and GIS analysis to identify communities and use cases for community charging. The survey and mapping results led staff to prioritize locations where electric-vehicle adoption and charger access are low rather than concentrating in areas already well served. Staff said the region’s disadvantaged communities — cited in the packet as Harrisburg and Steelton — will be a focus, and that geography definitions are flexible for application purposes.

A staff presenter summarized use‑case priorities (groceries/shopping and dense residential among the top categories) and explained that most EV charging occurs at home, which leaves residents without private charging — for example in some apartment and street‑parking settings — as primary targets for community charging. Staff estimated a county-level allocation in the range of about $3 million to just under $4 million to support community charging projects.

Committee members asked questions about scoring priorities and agreed with staff recommendations. The committee moved, seconded and unanimously approved sending the recommendations to PennDOT as part of the application process.