This story was originally published by the Great Plains Institute.

Southfield, Michigan, and Dayton, Ohio, are the first cities in their states to earn designations as Charging Smart communities! These designations recognize these cities’ work to become ready for the deployment of electric vehicles (EVs) and EV charging equipment. Both Southfield and Dayton earned a Bronze designation.

In addition to Southfield and Dayton, many other communities took important steps toward transportation electrification. With funding from General Motors’ Corporate Giving Climate fund, program partner the Great Plains Institute (GPI) facilitated a cohort of dedicated municipalities across Michigan and Ohio working to advance electric vehicles and charging infrastructure in their communities. Aside from Southfield and Dayton, other municipalities are still working with the program to adopt EV best practices.

Charging Smart is a tailored, no-cost technical assistance and designation program that helps communities prepare for transportation electrification in a way that ensures benefits are accessible to all. It is funded by the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE) Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO).

Taking Steps to Become the First Charging Smart Designees in Michigan and Ohio

As part of the Charging Smart program, participating communities can achieve three designation levels: Bronze, Silver, or Gold. See the Charging Smart program guide for details on the criteria required for these designations.

To earn a Bronze designation, Southfield and Dayton communities provided EV education opportunities for their community members, engaged with their electric utilities on electrification topics, and incorporated EVs and charging infrastructure into community planning documents. These two cities also completed actions that have contributed to making the benefits of transportation electrification available to everyone.

We are proud to recognize Southfield and Dayton’s hard work and leadership in transportation electrification and look forward to designating more communities in Michigan and Ohio soon!

Celebrating the Success of the Michigan and Ohio Cohort

GPI worked with other local partners to provide participating communities with guidance and technical assistance to meet their transportation electrification goals and reduce barriers for community members to access the benefits of electric vehicles and other electrified transportation options. Those local partners included Clean Fuels Ohio, the Ecology Center, the Electrification Coalition, Power a Clean Future Ohio, and the Michigan Municipal League.

The Charging Smart program has six categories of best practices that communities can work toward: planning, regulation, utility engagement, education and incentives, government operations, and shared mobility.

These categories provide communities with a wide range of actions they can complete to earn a designation. While Dayton and Southfield are the only designees at this time, other local governments have been taking action to adopt EV readiness measures. That includes the following:

• Summit County, Ohio updated its website to include information about electric vehicles and charging stations, as well as connect community members to the local electric utility to understand what rebates and incentives are available.
• University Heights, Ohio hosted the Sustainable Home Fair and invited electric vehicle organizations like Drive Electric Northeast Ohio to participate and educate community members about EVs. University Heights also developed an EV charging guide to help community members understand their EV charging needs and what they would need to know for installation.
• Saugatuck Township, Michigan developed a zoning ordinance defining uses for charging infrastructure, encouraging new charging stations, and providing requirements and standards for installed stations.
• Eastpointe, Michigan installed charging stations that are free to use at the City Hall building. The city also updated its zoning ordinance to require 20 percent of off-street parking in residential and commercial properties to be EV-capable. The ordinance also specifies accessibility guidelines for charging station parking spaces and recommends that charging stations be powered by a renewable energy source.

Participating communities continue to work toward meeting their transportation electrification goals. As they reach certain milestones, communities can receive a Charging Smart designation.

Get Involved With Charging Smart

To learn more about the Charging Smart program, visit the Charging Smart webpage. If you are interested in participating in the program and earning designation, fill out the form here. You can also learn about parallel programs on solar and distributed wind at the Energy Ready website!