State grants to help install electric vehicle charging stations
Published 1:30 am Friday, June 12, 2026
PORT ANGELES — Electric vehicle drivers traveling U.S. Highway 101 along the west side of Hood Canal will be able to ease their range anxiety — and grab an oyster sandwich — when two EV fast chargers are installed at the Geoduck Restaurant and Lounge in Brinnon by the end of the year.
The project, a partnership between Mason County Public Utility District No. 1 and the restaurant, is one of four North Olympic Peninsula projects that will receive a share of $37.3 million in Department of Commerce grants for new EV charging stations statewide.
Awarded through the Washington Electric Vehicle Charging Program, the grants fund charger installation at public locations and multifamily housing in areas underserved by the existing network — where charging options are scarce and fuel costs hit hardest.
In Clallam County, the Jamestown S’Klallam Tribe received $900,000 to install six EV fast chargers — which can recharge a vehicle in 20 to 60 minutes — at 7 Cedars Resort.
Peninsula Housing Authority received $25,000 for two Level 2 ports, which provide a slower overnight-style charge, at a multifamily property that will open in the fall on the east side of Port Angeles.
PHA Executive Director Sarah Martinez said charging stations are now a state requirement for new housing. This will be the agency’s first experience installing them.
The Clean and Prosperous Institute, a Seattle nonprofit, received $75,000 for six Level 2 stations in Jefferson County.
Kristin Masteller, general manager of Mason County PUD No. 1, which serves some residents in Jefferson County, said the stations will put Brinnon on EV charging maps, drawing tourists who might otherwise have avoided the Hood Canal loop. Locals with EVs will benefit from the public-private partnership as well.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuels Data Center, there are no EV charging stations on U.S. Highway 101 between Shelton and Discovery Bay — a 65-mile gap. Brinnon sits nearly halfway between the two.
“It opens up rural areas to be on par with our urban counterparts,” Masteller said.
Funding for the program comes from the U.S. Department of Energy’s Grid Resilience Formula Grants, Washington’s Climate Commitment Act and the State Building Construction Account.
________
Reporter Paula Hunt can be reached by email at paula.hunt@peninsuladailynews.com.
