More Dane County residents drive electric vehicles (EVs) than anywhere else in Wisconsin.
That means we need to take EV charging infrastructure seriously. And, to achieve our goal of an equitable clean energy future, we need to make sure that everyone has access to EV charging infrastructure so that everyone can access the many benefits of EVs.
Charge Up Dane County is a $13.2M effort to expand EV charging infrastructure in Dane County so that EVs are a viable option for all Dane County residents.
The Dane County Office of Energy & Climate Change submitted a proposal to the U.S. Department of Transportation's Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) program and in August 2024 US DOT announced that Dane County and its partners will receive $13.2 million in funding to implement Charge Up Dane County. This funding comes from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
As of December 2024 Dane County has a signed contract with US DOT for this work.
The first generation of EV owners tended to be homeowners who could charge their vehicles in private garages. Experts say that most current EV owners do 80% of their charing at home.
As EV ownership expands, though, we will need public charging so that people who live in apartments or homes without garages can charge easily too. As the number of new EVs grows the number of used EVs will also grow, making EV ownership more affordable to more people. (Especially with the new tax credits for used EVs!) Our goal is to ensure that everyone has access to EV charging infrastructure to reduce barriers to EV adoption.
Charge Up Dane County – Accelerating the Transition to EV Transportation for All is a regional initiative to install EV charging in locations that would otherwise be underserved.
Led by Dane County’s Office of Energy & Climate Change, the team includes the City of Madison, other municipalities, area electric utilities, community-based groups and the University of Wisconsin. Project partners include state and national electrification experts including Wisconsin Clean Cities and the Electrification Coalition.
We are focusing on charging gaps in all areas of Dane County - urban to rural. We aim to ensure that everyone has access to electrified transportation.
Last year the Greater Madison Metropolitan Organization (MPO) did a study of EV charging infrastructure in Dane County and our work will build on that analysis.
We will focus urban and suburban multifamily areas, rural areas and multimodal hubs across the county. We expect that most of the charging we install will be Level 2, which creates an affordable way to charge vehicles for daily usage. In some cases we might install Level 2.5 (which is slightly faster) but we do not anticipate installing Level 3, often called DC Fast Charging (DCFC) because other entities are already addressing the gaps in Level 3/DCFC charging.
The stations we install will remove barriers for renters and others who lack access to affordable EV charging. This will expedite EV adoption across our communities, which will lead to improvements in air quality and public health, lower transportation costs and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.
The first phase of Charge Up Dane County will be to solicit public input into the charging gaps identified by the MPO. The team will issue a Request for Proposals to identify station locations consistent with the grant priorities. Once we have identified station locations we will do an initial design and environmental review to verify the site location. Once we have approval for the sites we will procure charging equipment and construction services.
And at every stage we will maximize opportunities to educate the public on the benefits of EVs, to create family-sustaining jobs in the clean fuel industry, to maximize equity and Justice40 priorities, and to showcase a new standard for reliable, safe and accessible EV charging in our communities. Charge Up Dane County will expedite Dane County’s transition to an equitable clean fuel future.
The aim of Charge Up Dane County is to make affordable EV charging available to everyone so we are focused on adding charging near multi-family buildings (where residents lack access to dedicated charging), in rural areas and near multi-modal hubs. The emphasis here is on affordable charging, not high-speed charging. (Other stakeholders are addressing gaps in high speed charging.)
The map shows the locations of existing EV charging in Dane County and links to a form where you can suggest a location that needs affordable EV charging.
The Charge Up team will use the suggestions submitted via the form as part of our efforts to identify possible station locations.
The final decisions on where to install new stations will be done through a competitive process. More details on that process will be forthcoming.
Subscribe to the OECC newsletter to get the latest news on Charge Up Dane County and other OECC initiatives. Subscribe to the Charge Up email alerts if you are only interested in news about this effort.
If you are interested in providing equipment or services as part of this project, please register your company as a vendor so that you will receive notices about Requests for Proposals and other Dane County solicitations.
