Florida City Gets Free EV Charging Roadmap, Earns Top Rating

When a popular electric vehicle charger in Boynton Beach, Florida sat broken for nearly three months, city officials realized something had to change. They had charging stations but no real control over keeping them running.

In February 2025, the city joined Charging Smart, a free national program that helps local governments get ready for electric vehicles. Think of it like a consultant that doesn't send a bill.

"We were collaborating with our electric utility on EV charging, but we found ourselves behind in a lot of ways," said Alannah Irwin, the city's Sustainability and Resiliency Administrator. Boynton Beach had 12 public charging ports through Florida Power & Light, but city staff couldn't access usage data, set maintenance schedules, or speed up repairs when things broke.

The program works like earning badges. Cities complete actions from a checklist to reach Bronze, Silver, or Gold levels, with free technical help along the way.

Boynton Beach discovered it had already done much of the groundwork. The city had set up a permitting process for EV chargers and included charging goals in its Climate Action Plan, but that information was scattered and hard for residents to find.

Working through the certification process, staff created clear permitting checklists and posted them online where people could actually access them. They also reviewed local rules about EV charging and found some had become outdated as technology improved.

The Ripple Effect

By September 2025, Boynton Beach earned its Bronze designation, becoming a model for other Florida cities. The program connects participating towns through monthly meetings where they swap ideas and solutions.

Irwin recently joined her first national meeting and heard about creative approaches from across the country. One Atlanta program offers city employees free charging for a few hours each day before standard rates kick in.

As Boynton Beach works toward Silver certification, staff are now talking with fleet managers about switching city vehicles to electric and exploring options for more public charging stations. Those conversations are happening across departments in ways they weren't before.

The program is expanding throughout the Southeast, where charging gaps remain wider than in other parts of the country. For cities wondering how to prepare for more electric vehicles without breaking the bank, Boynton Beach just showed them the way.

Other Florida communities now have a local example proving you don't need to figure it all out alone.