Dane County Office of Energy & Climate Change

Partnering with Us to Host Affordable EV Charging

Our first RFP for site hosts closed on June 16, 2025. The status of that RFP is summarized below.

We expect to issue a second site host RFP in August 2025 with applications due in September.

Status of Round 1 RFP for Site Hosts

We received 57 applications in the Round 1 RFP that closed in June 2025. Of those 57 applications, 51 met at least one of our priorities (multi-family area, rural or multi-modal).

Those 51 eligible sites are now under review to verify suitability and compliance with grant guidelines. This involves a desktop review, site visits and engagement with the site hosts, which enables our design team to generate preliminary designs and required environmental paperwork. It is unlikely that all 51 sites will proceed forward so we are not posting a list of sites until we know better which sites will are most viable.

Our goal is to submit the first set of viable sites to the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) at the US Department of Transportation for approval later this fall. Once we have FHWA approval we can proceed to construction.

At the same time we are preparing a Round 2 RFP where we will solicit additional site hosts. We anticipate that the Round 2 RFP will focus on remaining gaps in EV charging infrastructure. Our goal is to have 60 - 70 new EV charging infrastructure sites in total at the end of this program so we anticipate that the Round 2 RFP will be our final site host RFP.

Learn More About Being a Host Site

How to Apply Priority Locations Other Site Host Requirements Benefits for Site Hosts Charging Infrastructure Specifics

How to Apply

Interested site hosts are required to register as vendors at the County's eProcurement Portal.

Learn more about the County's procurement process here.

Refer to this User's Guide for details on setting up a vendor account.

If you want to submit multiple applications (which is perfectly fine) then you will need to create multiple vendor accounts as there's a limit of one application per vendor account.

Priority Locations

Our priorities are locations that fit at least one of the following criteria:

High-density urban and suburban areas where residents lack access to private charging networks (so, for example, multifamily neighborhoods) OR
Rural areas where the private charging market is less likely to install charging stations OR
Multi-modal transportation hubs where EV charging can support public and active transit options

Other Site Host Requirements

Requirements for site hosts include:

Public access: the chargers must be available to the general public; EV owners will pay a fee for charging but not a separate fee for parking
Reserved EV parking: the spots must be designated "Parking for EV Charging Only"
ADA accessability: at least one of the 4 charging spots must be ADA compliant, which means the host will need to provide 5-6 spots in today, depending on lot design
5 year agreement: the host agrees to maintain public accessability and affordable charging for five years after the station is up and running
Station-use reporting requirements: the host will assist with reporting on station use which is tracked by the charging software
State of Wisconsin excise tax filings: as the owner of the stations, the host will be responsible for paying the State of Wisconsin EV excise tax (the host will recover this tax in charging fees)

All of the requirements are detailed in the Site Host Agreement, which is Attachment A in the RFP.

Benefits for Site Hosts

Entities should consider applying to be a site host because there are multiple benefits including:

Free EV charging infrastructure equipment, installation and 5 years of operations & maintenance
Permanent infrastructure upgrades to your property
Potential for increased traffic to your business
Potential to offer useful service to the neighborhood
Charging fees will cover the cost of electricity and taxes--so there's no out-of-pocket expense for hosts

Charging Infrastructure Specifics

Charge Up Dane County aims to fill the gaps in the existing charging network, to offer affordable charging in areas where the private market is unlikely to offer that charging.

Our focus is on Level 2 charging, not fast charging. Other entities are already filling the fast-charging gaps in the County.

Compared to fast chargers, Level 2 chargers will have a nominal impact on an entity's electric bill. Our aim is to set charging fees so that the site host recovers all electricity costs as well as the State of Wisconsin EV excise tax and any associated handling fees.

Watch the Round 1 Site Host Webinar for More Details

OECC hosted a webinar where we talked about the Charge Up grant and the Round 1 site host RFP opportunity. Staff responded to questions from attendees. Watch the video recording to learn more about this opportunity. .

WATCH WEBINAR RECORDING