LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – A lot of funding changes are happening rapidly at the federal level since President Donald Trump took office less than a month ago. That includes the suspension of a national program to help build out America’s EV charger network. Nevada was supposed to get $38 million under the National Electrical Vehicle (NEVI) Program but didn’t give out any of that grant money to business owners as other states already did and now that money is off the table.
“Usually, there will be like a lot of cars waiting. Sometimes people see people are not in their cars, they’ll go and try to pull their plug out,” explained Ivy White while waiting to charge up her car at an EV charger station in Henderson.
“You have to get up extra early just to be able to get to the charger before other people do,” shared another driver who did not want to appear on camera. There is such a need for more chargers in Nevada, people have gotten into fights over them.
“I’ve been here where they had to call the cops one time because two couples got into it,” White recounted. White says she sometime tries to come in the middle of the night to avoid waiting for other drivers to charge up.
“What’s the longest that you’ve waited for a charger?,” FOX5’s Kim Passoth questioned.
“Give or take about like two hours,” White responded. In November 2021, the Biden Administration allocated $5 billion for the NEVI Program. Each state was allocated a cut of the money to provide grants to small businesses that wanted to get into the business of EV charging especially in rural areas off interstates and highways.
Ryan McKinnon with EV advocacy group Charge Ahead Partnership says the current number of charging stations is not enough to serve EV drivers across the country and especially in Nevada. McKinnon claims Nevada dragged their feet giving out the NEVI grant money putting the state even further behind when it comes to the number of EV chargers.
“Nevada has had a really problematic approach towards NEVI this entire time. Right now, you have lots of states all over the country, have a lot of Nevada’s neighbors that have already opened up NEVI funded charging stations…The way other states did it, they set up an application process giving a gas station on the corner or off an interstate exit and you wanted to get into this marketplace, you can apply for funds. You can get a grant,” McKinnon stated.
“That’s lousy. That’s very lousy…Like if I try to go up north, it’s even more like sparse,” White contended hearing millions of federal dollars that could have been used to build charges in Nevada is now suspended.
FOX5 reached out to the Nevada Department of Transporation who was in charge of distributing the $38 million in federal grant money in Nevada before the NEVI Program was suspended. They shared this statement:
The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) has apportioned funds for Nevada under the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) program, but these funds operate as reimbursements, meaning they are not distributed upfront. While some states opted to distribute NEVI funds as grants to EV manufacturers, Nevada chose a Request for Proposal (RFP) process to ensure a transparent, competitive approach aligned with the state’s infrastructure priorities. Nevada had a Request for Proposals ready to be released when the federal government paused the program, placing the process on hold pending further federal guidance.
Nevada also faced unique challenges in rolling out NEVI funds, particularly in rural areas where sufficient energy capacity is not readily available to support new EV chargers. Throughout this process, NDOT has prioritized responsible stewardship of public funds, ensuring compliance with evolving federal guidance while working to maximize the program’s long-term impact.
The NEVI program has specific power and connectivity requirements, which required careful coordination with stakeholders, including NV Energy, to ensure proposed charging locations met federal standards. NDOT explored multiple pathways to deploy NEVI funds before finalizing the RFP, balancing the need for speed with the responsibility to ensure projects would be eligible for reimbursement.
About five percent of all vehicles in Nevada are electric ranking the state as eighth in highest percentage of EV’s on the road. However, there are only about four charging stations per 100 EV’s ranking Nevada 43rd for EV chargers.
Copyright 2025 KVVU. All rights reserved.
A recent Review-Journal letter to the editor mischaracterized Sen. Catherine Cortez Masto’s Southern Nevada Economic Development and Conservation Act, also known as the Clark County Lands bill. As the former executive director of the Nevada Conservation League, I wholeheartedly support this legislation, so I wanted to set the record straight.
Sen. Cortez Masto has been working on this bill for years in partnership with state and local governments, conservation groups like the NCL and local area tribes. It’s true that the Clark County lands bill would open 25,000 acres to help Las Vegas grow responsibly, while setting aside 2 million acres for conservation. It would also help create more affordable housing throughout the valley while ensuring our treasured public spaces can be preserved for generations to come.
What is not correct is that the money from these land sales would go to the federal government’s coffers. In fact, the opposite is true.
The 1998 Southern Nevada Public Lands Management Act is a landmark bill that identified specific public land for future sale and created a special account ensuring all land sale revenues would come back to Nevada. In accordance with that law 5 percent of revenue from land transfers goes to the state of Nevada for general education purposes, 10 percent goes to the Southern Nevada Water Authority for needed water infrastructure and 85 percent supports conservation and environmental mitigation projects in Southern Nevada. This legislation has provided billions to Clark County and will continue to benefit generations of Southern Nevadans. Sen. Cortez Masto’s lands bill builds upon the act’s success.
So here’s the good news: All of the money generated from land made available for sale under Sen. Cortez Masto’s bill would be sent to the special account created by the 1998 law. Rather than going to an unaccountable federal government, the proceeds would continue to help kids in Vegas get a better education, bolster outdoor recreation and modernize Southern Nevada’s infrastructure.
I know how important it is that money generated from the sale of public land in Nevada stay in the hands of Nevadans, and so does the senator. That’s why she opposed a Republican effort last year to sell off 200,000 acres of land in Clark County and other areas of the country that would have sent those dollars directly to Washington.
Public land management in Nevada should benefit Nevadans. We should protect sacred cultural sites and beloved recreation spaces, responsibly transfer land for affordable housing when needed and ensure our state has the resources it needs to grow sustainably. I will continue working with Sen. Cortez Masto to advocate for legislation, such as the Clark County lands bill, that puts the needs of Nevadans first.
Paul Selberg writes from Las Vegas.
click to expand photos
Las Vegas High’s baseball team claimed a 3-2 home win over Coronado on Friday.
Las Vegas (9-13-1) next hosts Rancho at 10 a.m. Saturday. Coronado (13-14) hosts Chaparral at 3:30 p.m. Monday.
Contact Alex Wright at awright@reviewjournal.com. Follow @AlexWright1028 on X.
LAS VEGAS (FOX5) — Nevada’s jobless rate is holding steady, but the state is still adding jobs.
A new report from DETR shows February’s unemployment rate unchanged at 5.3 percent, with the labor force growing by nearly 3,800 people.
MORE ON FOX5: Nevada unemployment rate rises to 5.3% in January
Nevada now has about 1.6 million nonfarm jobs, up 2.2 percent over the past year and 1,500 more jobs than in January.
“This month’s report shows a strengthening labor market,” said David Schmidt, Chief Economist. ”Compared to the report for January, the pace of job gains in the past year increased from 1.9% to 2.2%, building on what was already the fastest pace of job growth in the country. While the unemployment rate remained stable, the labor force participation rate rose to 63.7%, 1.7 percentage points higher than the national level.”
In Las Vegas, employment ticked up by 1,100 jobs in February, about 0.1 percent, and is up more than 25,000 jobs compared to last year.
Reno added 1,000 jobs on the month, while Carson City shed about 200 but is still slightly above where it was a year ago.
Copyright 2026 KVVU. All rights reserved.
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