Comment Re:Actually doing it is harder than writing a rule (Score 1) 120
> The states ABSOLUTELY have to rezone things
They absolutely do not. Would be nice if they did, maybe, but the chargers usually get installed on private property and, other than local building permits, requires no government intervention. Even on government property there's no need for the government to get involved beyond giving permission (via a contract.)
> because while we pretend that private companies do that stuff, in effect they are government-sanctioned monopolies
They are still private companies and the state cannot compel them to build anything. To the extent there is any state control, it's almost entirely economic. They are not operated or managed by the government, only regulated.
> I'm pretty sure a charging station needs to sit on land, no? Who buys it?
Nobody necessarily needs to buy any land; If it's private property, then it's up to the owner to install the chargers. If it's public property, the the government that owns that land will put out an RFP and contract out the development of that infrastructure to a private company. Now, is it possible that some private company would seek to purchase property explicitly for this purpose? Sure, I guess, but that's usually a poor business strategy compared to piggybacking off of an existing business and cutting a deal with the existing owner. EV chargers by themselves are not much of a business.
> Quite often where there are private companies actually involved
If by "quite often" you mean "always" then yes.
> RFQ
RFP. Request for proposal. Assuming the construction is the state's responsibility at all instead of just offering cash incentives to private developers, they will seek a turnkey solution from a vendor who can coordinate everything from groundbreaking to ribbon cutting, then contract the maintenance as well. States generally do not have the excess manpower sitting around to do that work on top of the other charter-obligated responsibilities they're already underfunded to do. Source: It's in the fucking article and the underlying law that they bid out the work. (See subsections starting at "[[Page 135 STAT. 550]]").
"An eligible entity receiving a grant under this subsection shall only use the funds in accordance with this paragraph to contract with a private entity for acquisition and installation of publicly accessible electric vehicle charging infrastructure
In other words, the government, tribe, territory etc. that gets the funding is obliged to hire someone who knows what the fuck they're doing to install and maintain everything. The government's involvement is essentially limited to outlining approximately where the stations should be located and explaining to the feds how their plan complies with the requirements to get the money.
=Smidge=