On Thursday, October 21st, the U.S. Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration awarded the State of Wisconsin a $1 million Statewide Economic Development Planning Grant, via the American Rescue Plan, for statewide electric vehicle (EV) adoption initiatives. The grant program is aligned with the Biden Administration’s Build Back Better Agenda to increase U.S. competitiveness and boost the economy.
Wisconsin’s Department of Administration (DOA), in collaboration with the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) and the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (WisDOT), will administer the grant funds, which will focus on end-user demand, as well as EV charging station planning and EV manufacturing supply chain opportunities.
The funding will also supplement work already underway by the Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, which is developing a statewide Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan to implement advanced vehicle technologies like electric vehicles to address Wisconsin’s transportation emissions. The Office is also leading efforts on the newly released Regional Electric Vehicle (REV) Midwest MoU, which will focus on medium and heavy-duty transportation electrification across a five-state region in the Upper Midwest, as well as the Lake Michigan Electric Vehicle Circuit, which will create a light-duty electric vehicle corridor around Lake Michigan.
The potential economic growth and job creation from the grant could be substantial. Aside from creating pathways to reduce Wisconsin’s transportation emissions, the $1 million in public funds could spur a five-fold return on investment and job creation, in addition to $2.60 in private investments for every $1 of public investment spent. This means that the $1 million public investment for electric vehicle initiatives has a potential total return of $7.6 million for Wisconsin’s economic growth and job creation.