Illinois EPA funding $25 million in EV charging stations

SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — More than $25 million is going toward electric vehicle charging infrastructure across the state.

John Kim, the Director of the Illinois EPA, announced the funding on Thursday. The money, distributed in 20 grants, will fund the installation of 643 new charging ports at 141 locations throughout Illinois. These locations include shopping malls, retails stores, gas stations and hotels.

“Through these grants, Illinois will increase the number of fast charging ports by over 100 percent, resulting in nearly 1,000 more fast charging ports available for Illinois’ EV motorists and visitors,” Kim said. “This is significant progress in building out EV charging infrastructure throughout Illinois, with more opportunities on the way.”

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The grants are based on a Notice of Funding Opportunity issued in late 2023, which sought publicly accessible locations statewide for EV charging stations. The money came from the Rebuild Illinois capital plan and the grants were authorized by the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act.

“In Illinois, we’re strategically turning our vision for a clean energy future into a reality,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “Thanks to recent grant awards, my administration will double the number of publicly available fast charging ports — putting us one step closer to our goal of reaching 100% clean energy by 2050.”

The following organizations were given money for installation of EV charging stations in Central Illinois:

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