The Ohio Kentucky Indiana Council of Governments (OKI) is in the early stages of building a Greater Cincinnati electric vehicle charging network.
CEO Mark Policinski anticipates about 100 additional charging stations.
"The network’s got to be robust. There can't be like, 'OK, we’re going to have 14 chargers in the region.' It’s got to be immense," he says. "So how do we stretch that money? We're looking for funding partners; maybe jurisdictions have to come up with a local match. If we have a goal of putting 100 chargers in this region, I don't think that's unrealistic."
Most of the money comes from the federal infrastructure law. OKI has $3 million for Ohio charging stations and $1 million for Kentucky.
The network will be a mix of high speed and regular chargers. Policinski explains the high-speed ones could cost $100,000 more than the regular ones.
Separately, the state of Ohio is using infrastructure money it got to install high-speed charging stations every 50 miles along interstates.
WVXU reported on that plan in July.
OKI’s Policinski says he's gotten interest from Green Township, Ft. Thomas, West Chester, 3CDC and more.
"We are putting together this plan in which we are going to put out pilot projects to see how it works, what works, how much usage there is. And the point being, that this is going to occur beginning in 2023."
Duke Energy is a partner in this project and in an email to WVXU, President for Duke in Ohio, and Kentucky, Amy Spiller said this:
"Duke Energy appreciates OKI’s broader vision around the electrification of transportation and is pleased to be one of its partners in discussing and planning for more EV infrastructure in our region."
She goes on to say, "As the adoption of EVs becomes more prevalent, it is important that charging stations to be readily available and accessible to all. But It is also important that the electric grid reliably support all load on the system, including new EV charging load. We look forward to our continuing partnership with OKI, as our early participation in the planning process is vital."
The project is expected to take four to five years.
