Idaho is among the states that will suffer the most if EV charging station program disappears

When my grandfather was growing up in McCall, Highway 55 was a dirt road. The trip to Boise, which my grandfather would drive during the summer to visit family, took all day. Today, the drive takes about two hours (traffic depending) and serves over 3,000 vehicles a day. 

Federal infrastructure investments transformed Highway 55 from a rutted dirt road into a catalyst for economic development and a gateway to some of the best outdoor recreation in the world. Those investments didn’t come because of existing demand; they were born from a vision of a more accessible and prosperous Idaho.

That vision of an Idaho that would draw people from across the country came not from the private sector, but from our state and federal governments, which turned this dream into reality through federal investments in American transportation infrastructure. 

Today, we’re in the midst of another great federal investment in our county’s infrastructure, to build electric vehicle (EV) charging stations along federal highways through the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program. However, this program has been frozen by the new administration, jeopardizing $23.5 million already appropriated to Idaho to ensure we have access to charging infrastructure throughout the state.  

I’ve heard the argument against NEVI: Not enough people drive EVs yet, so why are we publicly funding charging stations? The same could have been said for the trip between the Treasure Valley and McCall 80 years ago. Building the U.S. highway system brought the American economy into dominance in the second half of the 20th century; building a national network of charging stations will help maintain that dominance through the 21st. U.S. EV sales continue to rise, with a 15% year-over-year increase in the last quarter, so the time is now to invest in charging infrastructure.

Congress appropriated this money in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act. With federal approval, Idaho created its state-level program, drew up deployment plans, and collected bids from charging companies for planned charging stations in Pocatello, Bliss and Lewiston. 

Idaho’s NEVI plan also sets money aside for workforce development. These charging infrastructure projects will bring jobs to the communities where they are located, not only during the construction of the stations but also through ongoing maintenance, strengthening our rural economies.

Unfortunately, Idaho is among the states that will suffer the most if this program disappears. States like California and New York have large enough tax bases to pay for this infrastructure, but Idaho, even as we recently topped two million residents, will not be able to afford these investments without federal assistance. Rural areas will be particularly affected, left behind as the rest of the county moves toward an all-electric transportation future.

Federal infrastructure investment is why we have one of the best trans-national highway systems in the world. It’s why we’ve led the world in economic growth for the last 80 years, why the great American road trip exists, and why all Americans — no matter their backgrounds — can take family vacations to American icons like Yellowstone, the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, and Idaho’s own Sawtooth Mountains. Our roads and the federal investments that make them possible are one of the most economically successful democratizing projects in our country’s 250-year history. 

It’s not too late to make sure Idaho isn’t left behind in this next great infrastructure project. It’s up to our congressional representatives to hold the executive branch accountable for distributing the funds Congress promised us. Reps. Mike Simpson and Russ Fulcher and Sens. Jim Risch and Mike Crapo ought to know that if this money disappears, their constituents — all of us — will pay the price.