🔒With $3B in federal funding frozen, charging station projects across CT mothballed, scaled back

In June 2024, the town of Wallingford unanimously approved a special permit and site plan for a privately developed facility that would be devoted exclusively to charging electric vehicles (EVs).

At the time, the project was touted as the first of its kind in the U.S.

The plan submitted by Gem Property Group LLC intended to develop a 2.04-acre vacant lot just off Exit 15 of Interstate 91 at 1 Miles Dr. The proposed facility was approved for up to 38 EV charging stations, 36 of which would be beneath a canopy.

There would be no gas pumps, just EV charging stations.

The project also proposed a 3,000-square-foot retail building for a convenience-style store to provide packaged food, beverages and other items for people waiting while their vehicles charged.

A year later, anyone driving past that property can see it remains undisturbed, covered in tall grass and with no visible signs of site-preparation work.

In an exclusive interview with Hartford Business Journal, the developer said the EV project is now dead, primarily because of, well, climate change — that is, changes to the regulatory climate.

Following the election of President Donald Trump and his administration’s subsequent decision to freeze more than $3 billion in National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) funding, as well as the state legislature’s decision to reduce similar EV support, the Wallingford project is not the only significant charging station development in the state to be canceled or scaled back.

That will slow down the state’s efforts to expand charging infrastructure, which is seen as crucial for the broader adoption of electric vehicles.

‘Unplugged’ for the moment

Elizabeth Verna, a principal with Verna Builders & Developers, said her family runs Gem Property Group and has owned the Wallingford property on Miles Drive for more than a decade.

A year ago, she said she was bullish about the EV charging station development. Now, her family is considering alternatives because interest in the facility has evaporated.

Verna said the potential tenant was relying, in part, on the subsidies and backed out of the project after the federal funding was frozen.

“After speaking with the Realtor, everything just went cold, which is fine,” she said.

“It’s maybe a blessing,” she continued. “If government incentives were needed to keep a market strong, then it would have been risky to put a tenant in there that was surviving only because of subsidies or incentives.”

She added that she thought the Miles Drive site was a great location for the project.

“EV is not charged right now,” Verna said. “It’s unplugged, for the moment. I’d love to plug it back in.”

‘We just pared back’

So would Michael Frisbie.

He and his business partner, Abdul Tammo, own Hartford-based Noble Gas Inc., which operates 13 gas stations across the state and is developing four more. EV charging stations are planned for each of the new sites.

In February 2024, the town of Orange approved a Noble Gas proposal for a nearly 8,400-square-foot facility off of I-95 that would feature an EV showroom with charging stations, and include a gas station, convenience store, ice cream stand and drive-thru coffee and sandwich shop.

Noble Gas also is opening a station in Windsor that was supposed to feature up to 20 EV chargers. Its new gas stations in East Hartford, Hamden and Newington will each also have a few EV chargers.

Frisbie, though, said the Orange and Windsor projects have since changed.

“We just pared back in Windsor so that we don’t have as many, but we still have some,” he said of the EV charging stations.

Instead of 20, the facility has four.

“When, hopefully, the subsidies open up again — which I think they will at some point — then we are already positioned to be able to add on,” he said.

As for the EV showroom and service center, “they’re on hold for the moment, until such time as (the subsidies) come back,” Frisbie said. “We will have EV charging at the facility that we’re going to be building in Orange.”

He said Noble Gas still plans to eventually build the EV showroom, but “it’s probably part of phase two.”

Despite the setback, Frisbie said he is “still committed to pushing forward with the infrastructure for EV vehicles.” He envisions creating Noble Gas fueling facilities that include high-speed diesel pumps and EV chargers.

“I’m actually driving an EV, even though I own gas stations,” he said. “So, we think the future of EV is still pretty strong. The challenge is, we were planning on using some of these subsidies as part of the investment.”

He noted there is still some charging-station funding available aside from the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program.

Eversource Energy, for example, states on its website that it offers EV charging rebates for Level 2 and DC Fast charging projects, with rebates of up to $250,000. It adds, however, that the number of rebates granted each year is limited.

‘A perfect storm’

Attorney Lee D. Hoffman, chairman of Hartford law firm Pullman & Comley who focuses on clients developing energy projects, said the current political and regulatory environment for electric vehicles is difficult.

“You have a perfect storm of problems right now,” Hoffman said. “Nothing that’s insurmountable, but the federal administration froze the (National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure) funding, and it’s not clear what’s going to be the permanent fallout from that. We don’t know if it’s a temporary hiccup, or if that funding is never going to come out of the current administration.”

In addition to the funding freeze, the so-called “Big Beautiful Bill” making its way through Congress makes significant changes to the Biden-era EV tax credits. The bill phases out the clean vehicle credit, which allows a tax credit of up to $7,500 for consumers buying a new EV, and up to $4,000 for buying a used EV.

The credits were intended to encourage consumers to buy electric vehicles.

Eliminating the tax credits and freezing the funding creates uncertainty, Hoffman said, particularly for construction projects that generally have to order equipment and materials well in advance.

“If I’m delayed in getting my financing by 60 or 90 days, it may result in 120- or 180 days’-worth of delay because of supply-chain issues,” Hoffman said. “The charging equipment may get sold to somebody else who isn’t waiting on NEVI funding.”

In addition to the dramatic federal changes, EV projects in Connecticut have been waiting to see what the state legislature would do with its resources.

During the recently ended legislative session, lawmakers passed a bill, which Gov. Ned Lamont was expected to sign, that caps the Public Utilities Regulatory Authority’s EV charging program expenses at $20 million per year for the two-year budget.

Rep. Jonathan Steinberg (D-Westport), co-chair of the Energy & Technology Committee, said during debate on the bill that the program was among several that “got haircuts, but were not decapitated.”

Hoffman said the spending caps are less than what has been in place previously, “but it is still a significant amount of money that can be expended on this infrastructure.”

Frisbie said Noble Gas is a Connecticut family-owned business, and regardless of the federal or state cuts, is here to stay.

“We’ve invested a lot of money in the state of Connecticut, and we’re happy to do it,” he said. “We’re glad to be here.”

Others also are undaunted by the cuts. A developer in Enfield recently proposed building an EV charging station and café on an 0.55-acre vacant lot at 1561 King St., in Enfield. The facility would include 21 charging stations.

For her part, though, Verna said the plan is to replace the Wallingford EV station project with something else, perhaps a medical office building. But that remains to be determined.

“I don’t have any brilliant ideas right now,” she said. “I’d love to have an EV station there, but what are you gonna do? You can’t have everything.”