On July 17, 2025, the City of Tumwater Public Works Committee heard an informational closeout on the fleet electric-vehicle (EV) charging project, an interagency agreement with the Washington Department of Commerce funded through the Climate Commitment Act. Alyssa, a city staff member, presented the final costs, site changes and lessons learned from the installation.

The presentation recapped that the project began after the City Council adopted electrification priorities in the Tumwater Climate Mitigation Plan and the city’s contracting and purchasing policies that encourage replacing internal combustion vehicles with electric or hybrid alternatives. Alyssa said the city received an initial grant award of about $78,000 for charger installation and that the project was completed and is now closed out with the committee as an informational item.

Alyssa told the committee several changes occurred during implementation that affected funding and costs. Old Town Center was removed from the list of charger locations after parks work shifted sites, which reduced grant funding. A Puget Sound Energy fleet incentive (described in the presentation as the “Up and Go” incentive) changed its requirements during the project and would have required separate meters at each site; staff stepped away from claiming that $10,000-per-location incentive because installing separate meters would have been cost-prohibitive. Alyssa also noted federal Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) direct-pay incentives may still be usable through the 2025 tax-year filing window and could offset some costs.

According to the presentation, the city installed chargers at several municipal locations: two chargers at the main fire station, two at the North End fire station, two at the operations yard and two at the police yard. In addition, staff stubbed two future connection points at the police yard to allow easier future expansion. Alyssa said the project ended roughly $2,207 over the original budget estimate and that the city covered the increased match using existing Sustainability General Fund line items tied to the Tumwater Climate Mitigation Plan.

Committee members asked about security and access. Alyssa said none of the newly installed chargers had experienced vandalism or theft to date. Many chargers are within view of existing cameras but not all; two chargers are inside fenced yards with restricted access. Alyssa reported one instance of a community member using a fleet charger and said the city will issue RFID access cards and limit some stations to fleet use to comply with grant and contract requirements.

Councilmember Michael Althauser praised staff flexibility in adapting to funding and construction changes. “I’m just glad that we were able to sort of be flexible and pivot in recognition of some of the funding challenges that arose while then basically staying within the exact budget that we sort of had envisioned,” Althauser said.

The presentation was informational and no committee action was required. Staff indicated they will continue to monitor charger use and enforce fleet-only access at locations required by grant terms.

Less-critical details: Alyssa said the grant was provided through the Climate Commitment Act and that the city’s internal Green Team Fleet Electrification Assessment (2023–24) informed siting and the number of chargers needed through 2030. The committee received the report and moved on to the next agenda item.