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Columbia receives federal grant for EV charging stations | Mid-Missouri News

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COLUMBIA – The city of Columbia has received a grant to build electric vehicle chargers at two parking garages, the public library and the regional airport.

The $3.6 million federal grant will fund the construction of 44 electric vehicle charging stations in Columbia.

The bulk of the chargers will go to the regional airport for car rental companies and residents to use. 

The Daniel Boone Regional Library told KOMU 8 that it will receive somewhere between two and four electric vehicle chargers. 

During the application process, the regional library wrote a letter to the city as part of the application for the federal grant. Margaret Conroy, executive director of the DBRL, said the library wanted to support the community with these chargers. 

The city said the chargers will not only incentivize residents to use EV vehicles but it will also help the city switch its municipal fleet to electric.  

Eric Hempel, the sustainability manager for the city of Columbia, said the chargers will bring the city closer to its sustainability goals. 

“When we do it right, we’ll be able to develop an equitable and accessible E-V charging network for our community and for folks that are around Columbia and passing through Columbia,” Hempel said. “And I think that that’s really where a lot of good and positive change can happen.”

There is currently no set timeline on when the chargers will be done, but the city said it should be soon. 

“It’s just a matter of getting it all lined up and right now, I don’t know when we will be starting,” Hempel said. 

The award is one of nearly 50 projects across 22 states and Puerto Rico under the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) grant program that aims to build an electric vehicle charging network, according to a news release from the department.

The Biden Administration’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law provided funding for the grant through the $2.5 billion CFI grant program, according to the news release.

Columbia is the only grant recipient in Missouri.

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