||| FROM ALEX RAMEL, HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES ||| via Orcasonian reader
I am writing to express my strong support for the Orcas Island EV Charging Project which was submitted by the Port of Orcas for grant financing from the Clean Energy Fund’s ETS program. This project will greatly accelerate EV adoption on one of our state’s larger remote rural islands.
Orcas Island has no public transportation. I am impressed with the project’s strategic placement of about 30 level II charging stations around the Island to ensure that all major residential areas have access to EV charging. The project is forward-looking by installing a DC fast charging station at the airport to support:
- EV van deliveries of incoming airfreight
- a planned EV shuttle system around the Island
- short-haul battery-powered electric airplanes expected to become operational later this decade
Expanding EV infrastructure will assist in accelerating the transition to EVs, and dramatically improve transportation affordability. Increased affordability will help essential service industry employees live and work on Orcas Island. There is currently an extreme shortage of workers to staff the schools, banks, and grocery stores, due to the high cost of housing and transportation on the Island. A recent study commissioned by WSDOT (attached) emphasized the importance of affordability through greater EV transportation for low-income communities on Orcas Island.
The expanded EV infrastructure under the project will strengthen Island Rides/Orcas, the Island’s only quasi-public transportation system. Island Rides/Orcas provides free EV transportation through volunteer drivers to islanders unable to drive for any reason. This service has expanded greatly since its launch in 2021, now offering deliveries of food as well as daily rides – and it is vital to the Island’s low-income, less mobile, and senior population. It can only continue to expand to meet the Island’s needs if the project succeeds in installing the planned charging stations in the neighborhoods that Island Rides/Orcas services.
For the above reasons, I encourage Commerce to strongly consider approving the request for the Orcas Island EV Charging Project.
EV charging stations, particularly FAST charging stations, are the key to widespread adoption of electric vehicles, here and on the mainland. Nobody wants to wait around for half an hour or more to recharge their vehicle, as I discovered when I drove my Nissan Leaf to Bellingham a few years ago. And the key to fast charging stations is the use of silicon carbide semiconductors rather than silicon.