North Dakota’s Industrial Commission has approved spending $375,000 from the state’s Renewable Energy Program to fund a part of a Regional Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Resiliency Plan.
North Dakota is partnering in the project with Minnesota, Montana and tribal governments.
"There are more charging stations in the state this year then there were last year," said Energy and Environmental Research Center CEO Charles Gorecki. "And we'll see continued uptick in charging stations as well."
Gorecki said the growth of charging stations show opportunities for growth of EVs — but he said it also poses challenges for the power grid.
"Whether they be from weather effects, and how that decreases charge time, but also increased load, and also from cyber attacks," Gorecki said. "The challenge is how to shore up the infrastructure to make sure it's resilient."
Gorecki said at some point in the near future, there will be a study of how data centers and A-I technology will impact the power grid.
"They will need much larger loads," Gorecki said. "That will have a great big effect on grid reliability and power demand."
The current EV study will take two years. The total cost is $1.8 million.
