The Centralia Downtown Association (CDA) announced this week it has been awarded a grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce to fund the installation of two Level 2 electric vehicle (EV) charging stations in downtown Centralia, according to a CDA news release.
In total, the CDA was awarded $182,250 in Commerce grant money for the project.
“We’re really excited to help bring EV charging to downtown. We know that folks passing through needing EV charging want to have an exciting place to spend their wait time, and we believe downtown is the best place to do that,” CDA Executive Director MacKenzie McGee said in the release. “Tourism in downtown Centralia is increasing, and we want to be a part of that continued growth; providing these sorts of amenities is just one piece of that goal.”
Once completed, the EV charging stations will be located in the public parking lot adjacent to the Pine Street Plaza between North Tower and North Railroad avenues in downtown Centralia.
This location was chosen as it was deemed most central in the downtown area with the best access to downtown businesses and restaurants, the release stated. “We also know that there are a growing number of local residents who utilize these types of charging stations, and we want to make sure that they have an attractive option downtown to do so,” McGee added.
The grant is part of an total $85 million grant package Commerce is providing to help nonprofits along with tribal and local governments address the risks of fossil fuel polution’s negative health effects throughout Washington communities, with half of the $85 million going toward funding EV chargers, as previously reported by The Chronicle.
“We are committed to ensuring that the benefits from decarbonizing Washington’s economy are experienced broadly,“ Commerce Director Mike Fong said in the release. “The process for awarding these EV charging grants prioritized projects that add chargers in multifamily housing, publicly accessible locations and in communities highly vulnerable to the health impacts of air pollution.”
Commerce hopes to see the installation of nearly 5,000 new EV charging stations across Washington state with these grants.
Along with the CDA, other Lewis County organizations who have received this Commerce grant include:
• The Clean and Prosperous Institute, which will install five other EV charging stations in Centralia.
• The Washington State Department of Children, Youth and Families, which will install four other EV charging stations in Centralia.
• The Cowlitz Indian Tribe, which will install five EV charging stations in Toledo.
For more information, visit https://waevcharging.org.
