SAN DIEGO – San Diego Gas & Electric (SDG&E) and groups representing environmental, environmental justice, electric vehicle service providers, automakers and labor signed a settlement agreement in support of SDG&E’s innovative Electric Vehicle Grid-Integration pilot project. The pilot calls for SDG&E to install electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure at up to 550 sites throughout the utility’s service territory and offer special rates to encourage charging at optimal times for the grid.
These diverse organizations have come together to make this pilot program a key step in meeting Governor Jerry Brown’s goal of having 1.5 million zero emission vehicles on California roads by 2025.
“We are very pleased to enter into this agreement with such a diverse group of stakeholders all working together to promote clean electric vehicles,” said Jim Avery, SDG&E’s senior vice president for power supply. “More than 50 percent of SDG&E’s residential customers live in multi-family communities, where only a small fraction currently has access to charging. To ensure charging is accessible to all customers, our pilot will address gaps like this in the market.”
The settlement agreement supporting the EV pilot was signed by a wide variety of stakeholders, including SDG&E, the Natural Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Sierra Club, California Coalition of Utility Employees, the Greenlining Institute, ChargePoint Inc, NRG EV Services LLC, Smart Grid Services Siemens AG, Plug in America, General Motors, Honda Motors, Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, KN Grid, CALSTART, the Center for Sustainable Energy and the Green Power Institute. The agreement was submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) today. The CPUC will review the agreement and is expected to issue a final decision later this year.
The agreement calls for SDG&E to install charging infrastructure at up to 550 business and multi-family locations throughout its service territory, with 10 chargers at each location for a total of 5,500 separate chargers. Building owners and managers would have a choice of grid-integrated rate options and equipment, promoting competition and market growth in this nascent industry. SDG&E would install at least 10 percent of the chargers in economically disadvantaged communities to expand access to clean EVs in these underserved areas. The pilot will feature special rates that encourage EV customers to lower their fueling costs by charging their cars when electricity supply, including renewable energy is plentiful and energy prices are low. With rates encouraging off-peak charging, vehicles would be efficiently integrated onto the grid, helping to avoid on-peak charging that drives the need to build more power plants and other electrical infrastructure.
The Vehicle Grid Integration pilot creates a powerful engine of growth for electric vehicles, protecting the environment, ensuring safe and reliable service, promoting innovation and helping the state advance to a clean transportation future. SDG&E looks forward to working with its partners and the CPUC to make the pilot a reality for local residents.