Addressing Climate Change Solutions Locally through Electric Vehicles
Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan for Eagle County
Basalt is working diligently to meet its most immediate climate action goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by 25% by 2025. Town Council and staff are looking at all possible solutions to achieve this reduction. In 2021, ground transportation was responsible for 42% of greenhouse gas emissions in Eagle, only superseded by buildings, which account for 47.7% of emissions. Growth in electric vehicle use has been targeted in a newly released Eagle County report entitled Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Plan.
In an early June presentation to the Green Team (and the next evening to Basalt Town Council), Gina McCrackin, Climate Action Collaborative Manager shared a section of the Climate Action Plan for the Eagle County Community and said, “This…is the strongest strategy found within the climate action plan in terms of ability to decrease greenhouse gas emissions, so that signals to us that we need to be doing a 2% increase in EVs each year as a percentage of all registered vehicles in Eagle County.” 
To help achieve this increase in electric vehicles countywide, McCrackin said the solution lies in expanding the charging infrastructure. The plan calls for a 12:1 EV-to-public plug ratio or a total of 1,129 across Eagle County by 2030. Currently there are:
- 200 in Eagle County
- 77 in Pitkin County
- 20 in Basalt
In addition, funding, infrastructure, and outreach strategies are needed to meet these goals. The priority areas for installation of charging stations include multifamily, commercial, and government owned properties.

The costs for charging stations, depending on the level of voltage of the electric source, run from $4,000 to $100,000 with opportunities for significant cost reductions from local and state grants.
The presentation and report provide valuable information for Town Council to understand future need and opportunities.
The Green Team will be looking at EV infrastructure as a possible issue to address in its 2024 workplan, which will be drafted over the next few months and finalized in the fall.