B3
THE ASTORIAN • THuRSdAy, dEcEmbER 2, 2021
Electric: Vehicle charging an issue in rural areas
continued from Page b2
indication of the scale and cost the
effort entails to meet the Zero Emis-
sion Vehicle policy goals for state
fleets.”
Charging
Even if more Oregonians buy
electric vehicles, the state is not on
pace to have the necessary and con-
venient public charging infrastruc-
ture to support them.
Consumers and businesses are
still concerned about the range of
their electric vehicles, and residents
of many rural areas, low-income
neighborhoods, condominiums and
apartments have little access to pub-
lic charging. The Department of
Transportation is supposed to lead
the charge, increasing capacity and
addressing those inequities.
In 2021, the transportation
department issued a needs analy-
sis to support the number of elec-
tric vehicles that were in the Leg-
islature’s goals. The results were
eye-popping.
It determined the state would
need 3,525 public chargers to sup-
port the 50,000-vehicle goal in
2020. Today the state is 40% short
of that number, according to the
state Energy Department.
The needs analysis determined
the number of chargers necessary
to support 250,000 electric vehicles
in 2025 — the Legislature’s goal —
would be nearly 17,000, including
4,411 public fast chargers. That’s 10
times the number of fast chargers in
Oregon today.
Again, the state is not on track,
and ODOT’s Climate Action Plan
is considerably less ambitious. It
aims to expand statewide electric
vehicle charging infrastructure by
10% by the end of 2025. That would
still leave the state well short of the
charging network its own analy-
sis determined the state would need
to support 50,000 electric vehicles,
much less the 120,000 vehicles it is
targeting by the end of 2023.
Pietz, ODOT’s data and analy-
sis manager, said the agency is not
in the business of installing charging
stations. Rather, it’s role is as a facil-
itator, she said, working with utili-
ties and the private sector to develop
a deployment strategy, providing
some incentives, and in particu-
lar, to make sure there is equitable
access in disadvantaged communi-
ties, in rural areas and in apartments
and condos that don’t have access to
home charging.
The state has a grant program for
community charging. It is seeking a
$21 million federal grant to support
charging. The federal infrastruc-
ture bill provided $52 million for
charging infrastructure in Oregon.
And the Legislature passed a law
earlier this year allowing utilities to
invest ratepayer money in charging.
“There’s going to be a fairly sig-
nificant uptick in investment in elec-
trification within the next two to five
years,” Pietz said.
ODOT has not analyzed how
much it would cost to hit any of
these goals. But Atlas Public Policy,
a Washington, D.C., based group
‘THERE’S GOING
TO bE A FAIRLy
SIGNIFIcANT
uPTIcK IN
INVESTmENT IN
ELEcTRIFIcATION
WITHIN THE NEXT
TWO TO FIVE
yEARS.’
Amanda Pietz | administrator of
Oregon Department of Transportation’s
policy, data and analysis division and
former director of its Climate Office
that tracks the EV market, did run
the numbers for public fast chargers
needed in every state.
It used different assumptions
than ODOT, and concluded the
state would require fewer, but much
higher voltage ports that could
charge cars faster. It’s still a big
number: 1,624 public fast charging
ports by 2025, a fourfold increase
from the 432 lower voltage ports in
operation here today. The firm esti-
mated that would require an invest-
ment of $264 million by 2025, and
the need would grow from there.
That’s for fast chargers alone.
Chargers can be expensive to
install and maintain. On top of the
chargers come conduiting costs and
electrical upgrades to buildings,
parking lots and even the local elec-
trical distribution system. In August,
for example, the agency awarded
a $4.1 million contract to upgrade
and maintain Oregon’s section of
the West Coast Electric Highway,
a charging network along I-5 from
Canada to Mexico. That expenditure
will update and maintain 44 exist-
ing charging stations and add three
more.
Reichers, at the Department of
Energy, said the state will need to be
flexible about how it establishes its
charger network as the technology
changes rapidly and it doesn’t want
to install a lot of expensive equip-
ment that quickly becomes obsolete.
“At the same time we don’t
want to overbuild infrastructure in
an attempt to future-proof it only
to find we spent more money than
necessary,” she said. “It’s a delicate
balance.”
E-bikes
Steve Cheseborogh, a 65-year-
old blues musician from north-
east Portland, bought an electric
cargo bike last December for about
$4,000. About a month later, he sold
his car, and started using the bike for
everything: shopping, transporting
two guitars and an amplifier to and
from gigs, going to a friend’s house,
whatever the need.
“It just works,” he said. “People
think an e-bike is a replacement for
a bicycle. They don’t realize that it
really replaces your car, or most of
your car use.”
E-bikes are mounted with a
rechargeable battery, allowing
cyclists to go faster and farther with
less physical effort. Compared to
a car, (even an electric car) buy-
ers save on the purchase price, fuel,
parking, maintenance, insurance,
registration and taxes. Moreover,
they are responsible for less carbon
dioxide and other forms of air pollu-
tion. They decrease congestion.
Yet cycling advocates say the
state isn’t taking them seriously as
an alternative form of transit, an
assertion ODOT disputes.
Spokesperson Matt Noble said
in an email the agency “sees bikes,
electric and otherwise, are an eco-
nomical, environmentally friendly
and healthy way to travel. We
believe giving Oregonians several
options to get where they’re going
is essential to a modern, multimodal
transportation system, and a key
strategy to lower GHG emissions
from transportation.”
RELIGION BRIEFS
Anchor Baptist Church
Grace Episcopal Church
The congregation meets at the
Astoria Christian Church, 1151
Harrison Ave. On Sundays, the
service starts at 1 p.m.; Bible
study is at 7 p.m. Thursdays. For
information, email anchorbaptis-
tastoria@gmail.com
For updates, food pantry hours
and in-person and livestream ser-
vice information, call the church
at 503-325-4691, email graceasto-
ria4691@gmail.com or go to gra-
ceastoria.org or fb.me/Grace Astoria
Olney Community Church
Astoria Christian Church
For service information and
updates, go to astoriachristian.
org or bit.ly/AstoriaChristian, call
503-325-2591 or email Astoria-
Christian@gmail.com
Astoria First Baptist Church
First Baptist Church, 349 Sev-
enth St., holds a worship service
at 10:45 a.m. Sunday. The ser-
vice is also broadcast at fb.me/
astoriafirstbaptist
Sunday school starts at
9:30 a.m. There is no child care,
but children are encouraged to join
the service. For information, call
the church office at 503-325-1761.
Astoria First United
Methodist Church
Open for worship on Sundays
at 11:30 a.m., 1076 Franklin Ave.
Masks are required. For lives-
tream service information, email
the church office at office@unit-
edmethodistastoria.org or call
503-325-5454.
Common Ground
Interspiritual Fellowship
Common Ground Interspiritual
Fellowship holds a service from
9:30 to 10:30 a.m. Sunday, via
Zoom, which is open to all belief
systems, including the spiritual
but not religious. For informa-
tion, go to cgifellowship.org. For
the Zoom link, email info@cgifel-
lowship.org
The non-denominational Olney
Community Church, 89351 Oregon
Highway 202, meets at 9:30 a.m.
Sunday for breakfast. Sunday
school is at 10 a.m., and the wor-
ship service is at 11 a.m. All are wel-
come. A Wednesday prayer meet-
ing is at 3 p.m. For information, call
the church at 503-325-3394, or Ed
Hortsch, pastor, at 503-791-4475.
Pacific Unitarian Universalist
The Pacific Unitarian Universal-
ist Fellowship now meets in person
at noon Sunday at the First Presby-
terian Church, 1103 Grand Ave. The
sanctuary entrance is on 11th Street
between Grand and Harrison ave-
nues. The service is also held via
Zoom; for information, go to pac-
uuf.org
Peace First Lutheran
Peace First Lutheran Church
holds Sunday services at 8:30
and 11 a.m. at 725 33rd St. The
8:30 a.m. service is also streamed
live at bit.ly/3rckrMd
Wednesday Bible Study is at
10:30 a.m., followed by midweek
Advent prayer, at 565 12th St.
Soup suppers are at 6 p.m.
Wednesday, followed by Advent
services at 7 p.m., at 725 33rd St.
Church office hours are Monday
through Friday 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m.
For information, call 503-325-6252,
email office@peacefirstlutheran.
com or go to peacefirstlutheran.com
Pioneer Presbyterian Church
First Church of Christ,
Scientist
Sunday morning services and
Sunday school at the Christian
Science Church, 632 11th St.,
are held at 10 a.m.; enter on 11th
Street.
Wednesday evening testimony
meetings are at 7 p.m. Those
wishing to attend by phone can get
details by calling 971-320-0294.
The Reading Room hours are
11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. Tuesday
through Thursday, except holi-
days; enter on Franklin Avenue.
WARRENTON — For service
information, call the church at 503-
861-2421 or go to pioneerchurchp-
cusa.org
St. Mary, Star of the Sea Parish
For information about the
St. Vincent de Paul Food Pantry
hours, and service and livestream-
ing information at both the Asto-
ria church and Hammond mis-
sion, call 503-325-3671, email
office@stmaryastoria.com or go
to stmaryastoria.com or bit.ly/
stmaryastoria
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