Funding: Total: $8,500,000. Maximum awards: $3M, depending on project.
Dates: Pre-Application Workshop: December 9, 2021 at 1PM. Deadline for Written Questions: December 22, 2021. Deadline to Submit Applications: February 18, 2022.
Summary:
The California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) Clean Transportation Program announces the availability of up to $8,500,000 in grant funds for projects that will increase electric vehicle (EV) charging access for and enable greater plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) adoption by multi-family housing (MFH) residents. For the purpose of this solicitation, MFH is defined as residential properties with multiple dwelling units and excludes single-family dwellings (detached), duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, and mobile homes. The purpose of this solicitation is to demonstrate replicable and scalable business and technology models for large-scale deployment of EV charging infrastructure capable of maximizing access and EV travel for MFH residents. Proposed projects must include charger installations that will benefit and be used by MFH residents within disadvantaged communities, low-income communities, or a combination of both, and are encouraged to pursue installations for affordable housing.
Project Topic Areas:
Proposed projects must address the following:
- Reliable and replicable charging installations for MFH building types that have characteristics that may challenge onsite installations, such as properties with shared onsite parking, properties with assigned parking spaces for residents, or properties with limited or no onsite parking, and properties that may pose installation challenges due to size or configuration.
- Outreach to MFH residents, particularly MFH within disadvantaged communities and low-income communities, and the residents of affordable housing units, that will explain the benefits of having accessible chargers and provide relevant consumer information on PEVs, including available vehicles and total cost of ownership.
- Charger installations and business models that will maximize accessibility and ease of use, and minimize EV charging costs for MFH residents, with either onsite charging or charging stations located in close proximity to MFH properties.
- Other support and maintenance services that will ensure reliability.
Funding:
A total of $8,500,000 is available for awards under this solicitation. CEC, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to increase or decrease the amount of funds available under this solicitation. Funding eligibility will be as follows: If the project will install one or more direct current fast charger (DCFC), the project is eligible for up to 75% of the total project costs or up to $3,000,000, whichever is less; All other eligible projects are eligible for up to 100% of the total project costs or up to $3,000,000, whichever is less. Applications must include a minimum 25 percent total match share for a project that proposes to install any DCFCs. All other projects do not have a match share requirement. Applications must include a minimum 50 percent cash match share. This means that 50 percent of the total match must be cash match.
Project Requirements:
Eligible projects will demonstrate a business and technology model that will specifically serve MFH residents. All applications must clearly demonstrate that they will provide EV charging infrastructure that is convenient and accessible to identified MFH units. Applications may include Level 1, Level 2, DCFC, or mobile or moveable (not grid connected) chargers. Specific requirements for charging equipment are listed in Section II.B.5. Projects may not include charger installations in any single-family dwellings (detached), duplexes, triplexes, townhomes, or mobile homes. Projects must install chargers that provide charging access for a minimum of 100 MFH residential units. The minimum of 100 residential units may be across more than one MFH property. A minimum of 50 percent of a project’s EV chargers must be installed within disadvantaged communities and/or low-income communities. Projects may propose to install chargers onsite, offsite, or a combination of onsite and offsite. Onsite refers to parking areas immediately adjacent to MFH buildings, that are clearly identified as part of the MFH property (such as by address), and that would use the main utility service delivery associated with the MFH residential units. Offsite refers to any parking areas that do not meet the definition for onsite, including any parking areas immediately adjacent to the MFH property that maintain a separate address and utility service. Onsite chargers may be for the private use of MFH residents or may be shared by MFH residents and other users, such as visitors to the MFH. Charging locations and parking areas must be well-lit. The charger user must be able to easily read any instructions on the charger and the area around the vehicle must have adequate lighting to allow the driver to safely walk from the charger to the charging port on the vehicle.
The following requirements apply to all charging equipment in the proposed project: All public chargers must meet applicable requirements, including those of Senate Bill 454, the California Air Resources Board Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE) Standards, and the California Department of Food and Agriculture Division of Measurement Standards, for public chargers. For the purposes of this solicitation, a networked charger is defined as a charger that has: Network connectivity with one of the following: IEEE 802.11n for high-bandwidth wireless networking, or IEEE 802.3 for Ethernet for local- or wide-area network applications; The ability to receive remote software updates, real-time protocol translation, encryption, and decryption, including: Internet Protocol (IP)-based processor which must support multiple protocols, and Compliance with Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)/IP and IPv6; and The ability to connect to a network’s back-end software. All DCFCs must be networked. For projects proposing to use DCFC – For each DCFC site, at least 50% of the connectors must be SAE standard CCS. CHAdeMO and Tesla connectors are optional and eligible. All grid connected DCFCs must have a minimum charging rate of 50 kW. For projects proposing to use Level 2 chargers – For each Level 2 charging site, at least 50% of the connectors must be SAE standard J1772; Tesla connectors are optional and eligible. For projects proposing to use Level 1 chargers – Level 1 chargers are not required to have a cord. If a Level 1 charger is equipped with a cord, it must be a SAE standard J1772 connector. The equipment must be able to withstand extreme weather conditions associated with the deployment area, including extreme temperature, flooding, heavy rains, and high winds. Display screens must be protected from malfunctions due to condensation and any local area weather conditions.
Costs incurred for the following are eligible for CEC reimbursement or as the applicant’s match share: Electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE); Transformers; Electric panels; Conduit; Wiring; Meters; Distributed energy resources or energy storage equipment/systems capable of providing independent or supplemental power to the EV chargers; Photovoltaic solar panels separately metered for electric vehicle charging; Installation costs; Planning and engineering design costs; Stub-outs; Demand management equipment; Engagement and outreach to MFH property owners and residents; or Extended warranty or agreement for operation, maintenance, or servicing of equipment for up to five years. All electric vehicle charging infrastructure and equipment located on the customer side of the electrical meter shall be installed by a contractor with the appropriate license classification, as determined by the Contractors’ State License Board, and at least one electrician on each crew, at any given time, who holds an Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) certification. Projects that include installation of a charging port supplying 25 kilowatts or more to a vehicle must have at least 25 percent of the total electricians working on the crew for the project, at any given time, who hold EVITP certification.
The Recipient shall ensure that the chargers installed in the project are operational at least 97 percent of a charging site’s standard hours of operation for five years after commissioning. It will be the Recipient’s responsibility to demonstrate this uptime requirement is met. If the project’s chargers will be open to the public, the project must provide customer support service that is accessible during the charging station’s hours of operation via a toll-free telephone number and email address clearly posted near the charging equipment and, if applicable, through the online portal that is available to EV drivers accessing the charging equipment. The customer support service must be capable of providing or dispatching services to address customer concerns at the charging station. Customer support must be available in both English and Spanish. If the project’s chargers are private, this requirement does not apply. The Recipient will be required to collect, analyze, and report data as specified in the Scope of Work.
Each proposed project shall select one of two project areas – Northern California or Southern California – as the project area, meaning all proposed charger installations must be in that area. The two project areas are defined by county in the following table. The CEC will evaluate projects according to their Project Area and expects to award at least one project in each Project Area. Once the highest ranked project achieving at least the minimum passing score in each Project Area is recommended for funding, if funding remains available, the CEC will award the next highest-ranking project overall.
| Project Area | Counties | |
| 1 | Northern California | Alameda, Alpine, Amador, Butte, Calaveras, Colusa, Contra Costa, Del Norte, El Dorado, Glenn, Fresno, Humboldt, Lake, Lassen, Madera, Marin, Mariposa, Mendocino, Merced, Modoc, Monterey, Mono, Napa, Nevada, Placer, Plumas, Sacramento, San Benito, San Francisco, San Joaquin, San Mateo, Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, Shasta, Sierra, Siskiyou, Solano, Sonoma, Stanislaus, Sutter, Tehama, Trinity, Tuolumne, Yolo, and Yuba |
| 2 | Southern California | Imperial, Inyo, Kern, Kings, Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, San Diego, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Tulare, and Ventura |
Eligible Applicants:
This solicitation is open to all public and private entities. Project teams may include, but are not limited to: Community-based organizations (defined for this solicitation as an organization that (a) is place-based, with an explicit geographic focus area that includes the proposed project area(s), (b) has staff members, volunteers, or Board members that reside in the community where the project is located or intended to serve, (c) has a demonstrated track record of at least one year providing services in the proposed project area); Electric vehicle service providers; Environmental or environmental justice organizations; Cities and counties; Metropolitan planning organizations or regional transportation planning agencies; Non-profit organizations (for example churches, public schools, public charities, volunteer organizations, and some governmental agencies); Property management companies / owners of MFH properties; and Public housing agencies. Applicants may submit up to two applications under this solicitation: one application per Project Area. Each proposed project must be separate and distinct and adhere to all requirements contained in this solicitation. Applicants submitting multiple applications are eligible for no more than 50% of the total funding in this solicitation.