A long-planned expansion of electric vehicle charging infrastructure in Washington is back on track.

The Washington State Department of Transportation announced that it had awarded $12.16 million in federal funding under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program to improve charging station access.

The funding will go to five companies that will build 14 new electric vehicle charging stations along four major roadways in the state. The five companies will build the charging stations within the next 24 months at 14 key locations along I-90, U.S. 97, U.S. 195 and U.S. 395. The 14 stations will include 96 direct current fast charging ports.

The new EV charging stations will be built in the communities of Cle Elum, Ellensburg, George, Issaquah, Moses Lake, North Bend, Ritzville and Veradale along I-90. Along U.S. 97, they will be installed in Goldendale and Toppenish. The communities of Colfax and Pullman will host the new stations along U.S. 195. Stations will be built in Colville and Deer Park along U.S. 395.

Funding for the awards comes from the original NEVI grant, a $5 billion appropriation made by Congress in the 2021 Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA), intended to help build out the nation’s EV charging infrastructure and make it more reliable.

States had developed and were beginning to implement plans to build out the network. However, upon assuming office in 2025, President Trump issued an executive order directing federal agencies to immediately stop releasing NEVI funds. Attorneys general and governors from nearly two dozen states sued to block the order. Environmental nonprofit organizations also joined the litigation.

U.S. District Court Judge Tana Lin issued a preliminary injunction last May. In January of this year, she issued a final ruling, saying that the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT) illegally withheld about $1 billion in funding for NEVI. She barred the DOT from suspending the states’ EV plans or withholding funds “for any reason not expressly authorized by Congress in the IIJA.”