The California Energy Commission (CEC) has awarded the Center for Sustainable Energy (CSE) up to $250 million in block grant funding to design and implement incentive programs that accelerate installation of light-duty electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure throughout the state.
The funds are part of a three-year, $1.4 billion plan to help the state achieve Gov. Gavin Newsom’s executive order phasing out the sale of new gasoline-powered passenger vehicles by 2035. The plan by the CEC will help the state electrify the transportation sector, clean up the air, and reduce pollution that harms the environment and human health.
This is the second block grant for EV charging incentives the commission has awarded CSE. Since December 2017, CSE has administered the state’s first block grant for EV charging incentives, the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP).
CALeVIP is the largest EV infrastructure incentive program of its kind in the nation. It is funded by $200 million from the CEC plus over $40 million from community partners recruited by CSE.
CALeVIP is designed with a goal of at least 50% of incentives reaching low-income and/or disadvantaged communities. Overall, nearly $25 million in CALeVIP projects have been completed and $97 million are in progress. To ensure transparency, CSE has developed a public dashboard that provides easy access to key metrics, detailed information on the program, and a map of where stations are being built.
“Through our work in California and other states, CSE has demonstrated how to deploy EV charging effectively, efficiently and equitably,” said CSE President Lawrence Goldenhersh.
“CSE’s best-in-class process for designing and administering incentive programs is built on a decade of EV and EV charging incentive experience and data,” Goldenhersh said. “We welcome this opportunity to continue to partner with the California Energy Commission to achieve our shared mission to reduce harmful emissions from light-duty transportation.”
Currently, some 76,170 EV chargers are installed in public and shared private parking locations statewide, according to the CEC. The commission estimates the state will need nearly 1.2 million public and shared chargers by 2030 to support the 7.5 million passenger EVs expected on California roads.
Using block grant funding, CSE will develop proposals for incentive projects that support local and regional needs to help fill the gap between existing infrastructure and the amount needed to achieve California’s goals. The projects will have an emphasis on siting EV charging stations in low-income and disadvantaged communities.
An additional block grant of up to $250 million was awarded to the clean transportation nonprofit CALSTART for initiating similar charger incentive programs.
