Funding: Total: $6,000,000. Maximum awards: $2M, allocated to each region.
Dates: Pre-Application Workshop: September 14, 2021 at 10AM. Deadline for Written Questions: September 24, 2021. Deadline to Submit Full Applications: October 29, 2021.
Summary:
The California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) Clean Transportation Program (formerly known as the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program) announces the availability of up to $6 million in grant funds for projects that will support electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for high mileage on-demand transportation services including services such as ride-hailing, taxis, and meal and grocery delivery.
Project Topic Areas:
Eligible projects will provide electric vehicle charging infrastructure to support charging for on-demand transportation services and other services such as meal and grocery delivery. Eligible projects must demonstrate participation of or written support from on-demand transportation service companies. Examples of on-demand transportation services include Transportation Network Companies (TNCs) and Charter-Party Carriers (TPCs), as defined by the California Public Utilities Commission; taxi fleets; and food delivery services.
Examples of projects that may qualify include, but are not limited to, any combinations of the following: Charging plazas at airports – Charging infrastructure deployed in public and commercial waiting lots to allow for charging while drivers are in between service; Charging plazas in dense urban areas – Charging infrastructure to support drivers in areas of high utilization. These areas include downtown areas, high density housing, commercial developments, and transit hubs; Charging support along service routes – Charging Infrastructure to support well documented transportation service routes. The routes can serve as charging corridors for drivers who commute across counties to work in more active areas; Chargers to expand routes and economic opportunity – Chargers to support routes that connect airports to downtown centers or popular destination centers and routes that increase a driver’s economic opportunity by expanding the service area (e.g. destinations outside of downtown areas such as rural cities or businesses); or, Strategic charger siting – Charging infrastructure that is deployed in areas with limited land use availability where a charging plaza is not feasible. This includes small scale charger installations in strategic areas that support driver travel patterns, areas that can benefit from interfacing with microgrids, siting that complements public charging and sites that provide amenities for drivers between service calls.
Funding:
A total of $6 million is available for awards under this solicitation. Projects are eligible for up to 50% of the total project costs or $2,000,000 per region, whichever is less. Applications must include a minimum 50% percent of the total project cost as match share and must include a minimum cash contribution equal to at least 50 percent of the minimum match requirement. The CEC reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to increase or decrease the amount of funding allocated in each region. In addition, if an insufficient number of passing projects are received in a given region, the CEC reserves the right to reallocate funding to a different region. It is CEC’s intent to fund at least one project per region. Applicants submitting multiple applications are eligible for no more than 66% of the total funding in this solicitation. Applicants may submit up to two applications per region under this solicitation. Each application submitted by the same applicant must be separate and distinct and adhere to all requirements contained in this solicitation.
Project Requirements:
Each application must choose one of the three identified regions listed below.
| General Region Description | Selected Counties | |
| 1 | Northern California | Alameda, Alpine, Butte, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Marin, Mendocino, Modoc, Mono, Monterey, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Yolo, and Yuba |
| 2 | Central Valley | Amador, Calaveras, Colusa, Fresno, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Madera, Mariposa, Merced, Sacramento, San Benito, San Joaquin, Stanislaus, Tulare, and Tuolumne. |
| 3 | Southern California | Imperial, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, Santa Barbara, and Ventura. |
Charging stations may be either publicly available or private. Charging should be capable of accommodating the requirements and schedules of on-demand shared or gig transportation service drivers, including sufficient hours of operation. “Publicly available” stations are those that are open to members of the general public for any period of time. “Private” stations are all other stations. All successful applicants must comply with all applicable laws, ordinances, regulations, and standards; all federal, state, and local electrical and building codes for construction; and all Americans with Disability Act (ADA) codes. To the greatest extent possible, applicants are encouraged to ensure the benefits resulting from the proposed chargers accrue to Disadvantaged Communities. Charging sites must include direct current (DC) fast charging systems. All charging sites must include at least one SAE CCS connector. The charging sites may also use any mix of connectors and chargers that are required to service vehicles. The charging equipment must be networked, capable of remote diagnostics and have the ability to remote start. Projects must include deployment of chargers. Projects may include deployment of renewable distributed energy resources (DERs) or energy storage systems for supplying power to chargers provided the Applicant demonstrates that the DER is a component of the system necessary to address their charging requirements. The Recipient will be responsible for payment of all operating costs. The Recipient will be responsible for ensuring the maintenance of the charging station pedestals, and all ancillary equipment.
All installations must comply with any applicable local, state, or federal requirements for payments, including applicable regulations by the California Air Resources Board and Division of Measurement Standards. Public charging equipment must be capable of supporting multiple point-of-sale methods. The point-of-sale and supporting network must use an open protocol to allow subscribers of other EV charging system networks to access the charging station. Private charging equipment may use any payment method at the discretion of the recipient. The CEC encourages applicants to complete installation of the charging stations within eighteen months after the agreement’s execution date. Each project must provide a minimum of 12 months of data collection on deployed charging equipment, submitted electronically in a monthly progress report, rather than in a summary report at the conclusion of the 12 months. Applicants shall describe in detail plans to ensure EVs will utilize their infrastructure and enable them to collect 12 months of data on charging events for deployed infrastructure. In addition, the Applicant should identify and develop a plan for providing other relevant data and information to the CEC throughout the duration of the funding agreement including, but not limited to: Lessons learned; Best practices (e.g., permitting and installation processes); Potential job creation; Economic development; and Increased state revenue. Examples of eligible expenditures include, but are not limited to: Personnel costs for site design, site preparation, and installation; Equipment and materials necessary to construct and operate the proposed charging stations; and Signage.
Eligible Applicants:
This solicitation is open to all private entities with a business presence in California. Applicants are encouraged to partner with local city or county government authorities, nonprofit entities, community-based organizations, environmental organizations, local workforce development agencies, building developers, technology vendors, and utilities throughout the application process.