US government freezes charging infrastructure funding

As had already been indicated, the new US government wants to suspend the allocation of new funding for charging infrastructure nationwide. This is currently regulated by a memo from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) - but there are doubts as to whether this approach is legally tenable.

The US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has issued a memo instructing states to suspend implementation plans for the NEVI programme. As a result, no new commitments under the NEVI programme may be made with immediate effect until the updated final guidelines have been issued. It had already become apparent that US President Donald Trump intended to block funding for charging infrastructure.

“Accordingly, the current NEVI Formula Program Guidance dated June 11, 2024, and all prior versions of this guidance are rescinded,” the memo states. The FWHA is revising this guidance to align it “with current U.S. DOT policy and priorities,” However, funds already allocated are not affected.

However, it is doubtful that the FHWA has the authority to stop the NEVI programme with a memo – it would require a change in the law by Congress – and then the courts will probably decide.

“I don’t believe FHWA has the authority to pause or rescind any aspect of NEVI. The Trump administration is clearly trying to stop or pause programs like NEVI for as long as they can, but I assume lawsuits from states will start soon, and this will go to court and Congress,” Loren McDonald, principal analyst at Paren, told Electrek. “but the Trump admin will succeed in just causing havoc and slowing things down for a while. In the end, the Trump administration will likely fail, as only Congress can fundamentally revise and stop the NEVI program.”

The Biden administration approved the NEVI programme and allocated five billion dollars to support the large-scale expansion of charging infrastructure across the US. However, as part of the NEVI programme, states must submit their plans to the FHWA each year, detailing how they intend to use the funds. This is where the memo comes in, as the new plans must first be approved by the FHWA. In addition to NEVI, there are other US funding programmes for charging infrastructure – such as the CFI – which are currently still running without any changes.

electrek.co, wired.com, fhwa.dot.gov (PDF)