Thursday, October 1, 2026
The Port of Olympia is going after funds needed to install a charging station for electric aircraft at Olympia Regional Airport.
The Port Commission authorized Executive Director Alex Smith to submit an application to the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) for a grant of at least $1 million. The commission made the decision at a meeting on Monday, July 13.
The commission agreed to use port funds for a 15 to 20 percent match — equivalent to $195,000 to $260,000 — at staff’s discretion.
Airport Senior Manager Chris Paolini told the commission the charging station could be installed near Safety in Motion Flight Center, a flight school and fixed-based operator, on Old Highway 99.
He said the site was near a street with three-phase power, an industrial-grade electrical standard required for high load equipment, making it the best location for the charging station.
The project involves upgrading Puget Sound Energy's power at the airport's edge from 208-volt, three-phase to 480-volt, three-phase. It also includes the installation of around 800 feet of electrical conduit from the street to the charging station.
“This project would place the Port of Olympia at the forefront of electric aircraft transition in the Pacific Northwest and the West Coast,” said Paolini, who pointed out there is currently only one other active aircraft charging station active and it is located in California.
He added the project is an opportunity to bring quieter, zero-emission aircraft to the area.
Paolini said while WSDOT can fund up to 100 percent of the project cost, a voluntary match could make the port’s application more competitive.
He provided the commission with three options: matching the grant at 10, 15, or 20 percent, with a recommendation of choosing 15 percent.
The match would come from the airport’s capital project fund.
Port Commissioner Krag Unsoeld asked whether the port could comfortably provide a 20 percent match. Paolini said the match would not cause any issue, adding the match would come from next year’s budget.
Port Commissioner Joel Hansen also expressed preference for the same match to increase the port’s competitiveness.
“It really is the future of aviation, and the cost of ownership and operating these aircraft is orders of magnitude less than the existing fleet of aircraft,” Hansen said.
“I think as the transition happens, it will happen quickly. To prepare ourselves with the infrastructure necessary for those planes to come and go from our airport is a really wise move on our part.”
As a requirement for the grant application, the commission also passed a resolution that affirms their commitment and the availability of funds to match the grant.
Paolini said the results of the grant application will be certified once WSDOT sends award letters in July 2027. If the port gets the funding, he said construction could begin in late 2027 and would continue through 2028.
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Person of Interest
The approval of the funds to support the charging infrastructure at Olympia Regional Airport for future electric airplanes is the Commission gambling with your money. This is an illusion of progress that the current Commission will tout. No one including the Commissioners, who are not aviation experts, can predict when electric airplanes will be adopted on a commercial basis. There is no payout that can be calculated on this expenditure. The best our airport could hope for is some demonstration flight in the next five years.
Battery technology limits flights to around 100 miles with a pilot and a few passengers. Unless the fares are subsidized no one except the wealthy could afford these flights. These planes will experience the same problems with lithium batteries that electric cars experience but with more serious consequences. Again this is a technology that is being promoted by private equity firms in order to keep their stock prices high. Private equity is driving this so by spending money on this project you are supporting firms like Joby which are backed by multiple private equity firms, the Japanese and the US Department of Defense.
The amazing part of all this is that no one will be accountable for this decision. By the time anyone looks around to see if the anticipated results occurred everyone involved will have moved on. If no cons were discussed in the presentation on this expenditure I would suggest that the full story was not told.
Sunday, July 19 Report this
TheGreatAnon
Bagging, not banning
Sunday, July 19 Report this
Southsoundguy
The grant grift is thriving.
Monday, July 20 Report this
RondaLarsonKramer
@Person of Interest, thank you for your good comments. I would add that the message from the Port would be much clearer if it distinguished between electric fixed-wing aircraft and electric air taxis (eVTOLs). They are fundamentally different technologies with different infrastructure needs, business models, and implications for our community. Lumping them together does not help Port commissioners or the public evaluate what this grant actually means.
Electric fixed-wing aircraft capable of replacing today's regional airliners are not expected to become commonplace anytime soon. Even when larger electric aircraft are eventually certified, airlines typically keep aircraft in service for 20 to 30 years or more, so fleet replacement will be gradual. Meanwhile, Washington is already investing in passenger rail through improvements to Amtrak Cascades and planning for faster rail service. Those investments are far more likely to improve mobility for Olympia-area residents in the foreseeable future.
If, instead, the Port is really talking about electric air taxis, that's an entirely different conversation. Air taxis are designed to bypass traditional airports by operating from small vertiports located close to where passengers want to go. If that market develops, there is no obvious reason Olympia Regional Airport would be an attractive location for air taxi companies to use. They're more likely to choose Lacey or downtown Olympia than way out at the Olympia Airport.
Air taxis also raise separate questions about neighborhood noise, low-altitude flights, safety, and equity, since they are expected to serve a relatively small, higher-income market.
There's nothing wrong with exploring emerging technologies. But the Port should present these technologies accurately and avoid creating the impression that "electric aircraft" are a single, near-term solution for commercial aviation. The public deserves a realistic discussion based on the different roles these technologies are actually expected to play.
Monday, July 20 Report this