Accelerating Toward a Clean Transportation Future, PG&E Proposes Next Milestone in Building California’s Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure

By: Pacific Gas and Electric Company via Business Wire

October 28, 2021 at 12:13 PM EDT

Plan for Approximately 16,000 New Charging Ports Further Reduces a Common Barrier to EV Adoption

Today, Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) announced it has proposed the next major milestone in building the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for Northern and Central California. If approved by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC), the proposal would continue to drive customer EV adoption as PG&E works to support California’s bold climate and clean air goals.

PG&E’s proposal builds on the success of its recently completed EV Charge Network program by installing new infrastructure for 16,000 additional charging ports including Level 2 EV chargers, supporting multifamily housing residents in particular with onsite, workplace and public destination charging options.

Additionally, PG&E proposes installing both Level 2 EV chargers and fast chargers at publicly accessible locations including shopping centers, local government buildings, and park-and-ride lots. Public charging is critical to increasing EV adoption, as it builds driver confidence in their ability to charge away from home and provides access to drivers who do not have residential charging.

“Expanding the use of electric vehicles is essential for California to achieve its bold climate and clean-air goals. With this proposed program, we believe we can continue doing our part to expand EV charging infrastructure for our customers, which is a critical component of increasing EV adoption. We value our role as an active partner in helping make EVs an option for millions of Californians. Reducing vehicle emissions is good for our state and good for the environment,” said PG&E’s Aaron August, Vice President, Business Development and Customer Engagement.

Details of the Proposal

Should the CPUC approve the program, PG&E would install or rebate the necessary electrical infrastructure to connect parking spaces to the electric grid and, in certain cases, also install the associated EV chargers. PG&E would pay for all or a portion of this work, depending on the customer type.

PG&E’s proposal focuses on supporting equitable EV adoption for all Californians including those who may not have had the option before. These efforts include, but are not limited to:

Covering 100% of costs for certain multifamily housing customer sites;
Collecting and incorporating community input on the location of chargers installed through the program;
Pursuing EV car-share partnerships;
Providing grants for community-based organizations with ideas for how to drive EV adoption; and
Allocating at least 50% of infrastructure spending in communities prioritized by Assembly Bill 841 (Ting-2020), which established criteria for future transportation electrification programs in underserved communities.

Why Clean Transportation Matters

More than 360,000 EVs are currently registered in PG&E’s service area, representing nearly 20% of all EVs in the country. Increasing EV adoption is a critical component to making California’s clean air future a reality as transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions in California, contributing nearly 40%. Passenger vehicles alone account for nearly 29% of the state’s total emissions. The state aims to have 100% of California sales of new passenger cars and trucks be zero-emission by 2035.

The electricity fueling EVs in California comes from one of the cleanest energy mixes in the country—about 85% of the electricity PG&E delivers to customers is from greenhouse gas-free resources.

PG&E’s Support for EVs

As part of its first EV charging infrastructure program, EV Charge Network, PG&E installed 4,827 Level 2 EV charging ports at customer sites across Northern and Central California, which accounts for roughly 18% of the total number of Level 2 charging ports in the state. Through the program, PG&E partnered with customers at 192 locations and with 11 EV charging companies throughout its service area including in Bakersfield, Chico, Fresno, Red Bluff, and San Jose. Through September 2021, PG&E has enabled charging for 5.5 gigawatt-hours of electricity, equivalent to over 1,400 traditional cars being taken off the road for a year.

While the EV Charge Network program is complete, PG&E continues to bring EV charging options to customers across its service area.

EV Fleet Program: Aims to install or rebate make-ready electrical infrastructure at 700 sites by 2024 to support the adoption of 6,500 medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles.
EV Fast Charge Program for Public Fast Chargers: Complements state and privately funded initiatives and aims to install more than 50 plazas for Direct Current (DC) fast charging in highway corridor and urban sites. Earlier this year, PG&E installed four fast chargers at its first site at a 7-Eleven convenience store in West Sacramento, California. PG&E has since seen high demand for the program, receiving three times the applications for available funding.
EV Charge Schools and EV Charge Parks: Will provide charging infrastructure at school facilities and educational institutions, as well as California State Parks and Beaches in support of California’s electrification goals.
Special Rates, Rebates and Tools: PG&E has electric rate plans tailored for customers who drive EVs and offers tools such as PG&E’s EV Savings Calculator and Fleet Calculator (ev.pge.com and fleets.pge.com) to help customers understand costs when adopting an EV.

For more information, visit pge.com/ev.

About PG&E

PG&E, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE: PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.