Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: EV charging infrastructure

[R P Dowds (rphilipdowds]

At Cornerstone, we installed a multi-station charging system at one of our 
parking lots.  Costs were fully covered by a state grant combined with 
donations from a “club” of EV-owner/members; not one dime of community money 
was involved.  The program seems successful.  Over time, a few club members 
have come and gone, and they handle buy-in & buy-out transactions among 
themselves.

I am thinking that the Smart Energy Future carries a big price tag.  It may not 
be a shoo-in.

Philip Dowds

> On Jul 21, 2025, at 12:48 PM, mbirn [at] owt.com wrote:
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> At Woodard Lane Cohousing in Olympia, WA, we were approved for a grant of
> $75,000 through a combination of state, federal, and local agencies.  A
> vendor gave us an estimate of $124,000 for 8 Level-2 charges in our
> preferred location.  Raising the addition $50,000 was one of the hardest
> things we've done in the 15+ years of our community.  Issues included
> balancing the needs of residents who had electric vehicles, residents who
> were planning to buy an EV, residents who will never buy an EV, who had more
> "wealth", environmental concerns, technological concerns, perceived
> inequities in our dues structure, whether it was part of necessary
> infrastructure or a luxury, and many more concerns.  We had a lot of "rich
> conversations".  At the end, we found a solution that felt pretty good,
> combining a modest cash call and generous donations.  We signed a contract
> in November of 2024 to accept the grant money.
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> Then radio silence.  Given the political climate in 2025, many of us were
> pretty sure the project was dead.  Then in the middle of June of 2025, we
> were notified that the grant money was approved.  Yay!  Except that the new
> estimates are $24,000 more than the original estimate, through a combination
> of increased material costs due to tariffs, and the expiration of a tax
> exemption.  We are continuing to work with the vendor to find a solution to
> get us the infrastructure we need at a price we can afford.  
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> The story continues.
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> 
> Meryl Birn
> 
> Woodard Lane Cohousing
> 
> Olympia, WA
> 
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