EV charging station opens in Grandview, eight under construction along U.S. 12

Dec 16, 2023

Business Reporter

As Washington state pursues its goal of selling only electric vehicles as new cars by 2035, it will need more charging stations.

Public power company Energy Northwest is working toward that goal, opening a new EV charging station in Grandview last month and beginning construction of eight new stations along U.S. Highway 12 near White Pass and in Lewis County this summer.

“Our goal is to help Washington state meet its carbon-reduction goals — both in the transportation sector and with the clean energy transformation — to benefit our members, regional customers and the public,” said Greg Cullen, Energy Northwest’s vice president for energy services and development, as the U.S. 12 charging stations were announced.

All nine of the new stations have at least one Level 3 fast charger (also known as a DC Fast Charger) and one or two Level 2 chargers. The 50kW DCFCs can charge a vehicle in 20 minutes to an hour, while the Level 2 chargers are 7.2kW and take 4-10 hours to charge a vehicle.

The station at the Grandview Museum, 115 W. Wine Country Road, went online June 28 and was supported by a $75,000 grant from Pacific Power to the city of Grandview. The city partnered with Energy Northwest to build, own and operate the charging station.

This charging station at the Grandview Museum, 115 W. Wine Country Road, opened June 28 and includes one DCFC 50kW fast charger and a pair of Level 2 7.2kw chargers.

Cus Arteaga, the Grandview city administrator and public works director, said while they do not have statistics on the station’s use, he and others with the city and museum regularly see people using it.

“The location for the EV station was decided by city staff,” Arteaga added. “We want to bring people to the downtown area to shop, eat and to also visit our museum.”

Grandview’s EV station is the 12th charging location Energy Northwest has in operation. It began its involvement with EV charging infrastructure in 2016.

Based in Richland, the company is a Washington state joint operating agency that owns and operates electricity generating facilities that are 100% carbon-free.

The eight additional stations planned on U.S. 12 are part of the Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Transportation Alliance project network, and are scheduled to be completed this fall.

EVITA was formed to consolidate and coordinate the efforts of local utilities toward the support and adoption of the installation of EV charging infrastructure. It includes public utility districts in several Central and Southeast Washington counties and the city of Ellensburg’s energy services department.

Other EVITA charging stations in the Yakima Valley region are at:

• Cleman’s View Sports Park, 8894 U.S. Highway 12 near Naches.

• The Bullseye Burger/Chevron parking lot at 51 Firing Center Road, just off Interstate 82 near Selah.

• The downtown Ellensburg parking lot at 208 W. Third Ave.

• The Grandview Museum location that just opened.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the beginning of the U.S. 12 stations’ construction took place July 11 at the Cowlitz River Lodge in Packwood, adjacent to the EV charging station site that will open there.

Among the other U.S. 12 locations is a charging site at White Pass Ski Resort. Six more will be built in Randle, Morton, Elbe, Mossyrock, Salkum and Chehalis.

The U.S. 12 stations are a collaboration between Energy Northwest, Lewis County government entities and the White Pass Scenic Byway organization.

New electric vehicle charging stations are under construction on U.S. Highway 12.

“Highway 12 is designated as an underserved corridor for EV drivers and it’s an integral route for travel across Washington, with stretches of rural areas through Lewis, Pierce and Yakima counties,” said Tanya Dion, Energy Northwest project developer.

“We’ve had a great amount of interest and support from local communities to install this network of charging stations. This makes long-distance EV driving possible through this beautiful part of our state,” Dion added.”

Each charging location on the White Pass Scenic Byway will have an interpretive sign highlighting nearby attractions and local information.

“We are excited to see this project come to fruition,” said Maree Lerchen, White Pass Scenic Byway board president. “We are pleased to be able to offer EV charging services to enable travelers with electric vehicles to now drive between Eastern and Western Washington via the White Pass Scenic Byway on Highway 12.”

Energy Northwest secured two grants to fund the project — a $1.15 million grant from the Washington State Department of Commerce’s Clean Energy Fund, and about $667,000 from the TransAlta Coal Transition Fund.

The website plugshare.com shows all of the EVITA and other EV charging sites across Yakima County, the state of Washington and the United States.

In addition to the Grandview site, Plugshare shows seven other EV charging stations in the Lower Valley and nearly two dozen of them in the city of Yakima/Terrace Heights area.

Contact Joel Donofrio at [email protected].

Business Reporter

Comments can only be made on article within the first 3 days of publication.

Please select all the ways you would like to hear from us:

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. For information about our privacy practices, please visit our website.

We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By clicking below to subscribe, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing. Learn more about Mailchimp's privacy practices here.