State and partners celebrate new EV fast-charging station in Arlington

ARLINGTON — The state celebrated its first electric vehicle fast-charging station on Tuesday at A1 Gas and Food, right off I-5 on State Route 530.

The station was funded by Washington’s Climate Commitment Act dollars and was made possible through the collaboration of the state Department of Commerce, the Clean and Prosperous Institute, Seattle-based contractor Electric Era, site developer Skycharger and local Arlington partners.

As part of the state’s Washington Electric Vehicle Charging Program, the eight charging ports are the first of a planned 634 ports spread across 136 sites, supported by the program’s $101 million investment. For the A1 Gas and Food station, the state contributed $511,000 while private entities funded $397,000.

“Selfishly, I’m very enthusiastic about this. My family and I commute out into the Cascades via this corridor regularly,” said Kyler Schmitz, Electric Era’s chief revenue officer. “It’s a much-needed piece of infrastructure, not just for the state, but … for making charging more accessible and affordable for everyone in Washington.”

The stations are set to 40 cents per kilowatt hour, with the ports taking an average of 20 minutes per vehicle to charge, Schmitz said.

Project partners were able to complete the project in eight months, less than half the time for similar projects, a Department of Commerce June 23 press release stated. Fast-charging stations like the A1 Gas and Food site usually take “18 to 36 months to install because their high electrical power can require significant upgrades to the grid and site location,” the release stated.

But an onsite battery helped bypass potentially needed upgrades and a slower timeline.

“The project’s use of innovative battery technology made it possible to provide power to the chargers without the need for increased capacity or expensive upgrades,” Snohomish County Public Utility District communications manager Aaron Swaney wrote in a June 24 email. “We are thrilled with Electric Era’s project and the benefits our customers will experience with additional fast charging infrastructure in our service area.”

During the gathering celebrating the new station, Commerce Director Joe Nguyễn acknowledged the uncertain federal environment regarding electric vehicle funding and other measures meant to combat climate change.

President Donald Trump’s administration revoked waivers allowing California and other states the ability to mandate a transition to electric vehicles. The administration also recently announced plans to roll back all greenhouse gas emission standards for fossil fuel-fired plants in the name of growing domestic energy supply.

“We’re very lucky in Washington state to have a legislature, a community, a voting base that cares about climate change,” Nguyễn said. “Washington state remains committed to decarbonization. We have a regime around the Climate Commitment Act that will help us get there as well, and we have resources to do it, so we are not going to stop meeting our goals and working towards decarbonization.”

Eliza Aronson: 425-339-3434; eliza.aronson@heraldnet.com; X: @ElizaAronson.

Eliza’s stories are supported by the Herald’s Environmental and Climate Reporting Fund.