Do you get a charge out of electric vehicles and want to get in on the possible future of Henry Ford’s baby? Are you interested in the gas stations of the future?
The local community choice energy company started taking applications July 27 for millions in grant monies to help fund electric vehicle charging stations.
Central Coast Community Energy or CCCE, the non-profit electric utility company that provides electricity to communities from Hollister to Ventura, will have some $19 million in grant monies available through the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project’s “South Central Coast Incentive Project,” the company announced last week.
The project is supposed to promote, “easy access to zero-emission vehicle infrastructure. SCCIP roughly estimates to fund more than 1,000 chargers,” CCCE said in a news release.
The program is on a first-come, first-served basis and provides “qualified rebates for the purchase and installation of charging stations with an emphasis on, and extra funding for disadvantaged communities.”
Applicants are eligible for up to $80,000 per DC fast charger and up to $6,000 per Level 2 charging station at an array of location types, from gas stations and grocery stores to workplaces and multi-unit dwellings.
“The site must be located within San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara or Ventura counties and the applicant must be the site owner.”
They expect the available funds to be eaten up quickly, according to the company. It’s CCCE’s second venture into the program, as the first project, with $7 million available, quickly saw $10 million in grant requests come in. And that round was just for Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties, according to CCCE.
CCCE CEO, Tom Habashi, said, “Central Coast Community Energy is proud to partner with CALeVIP a second time to ensure our entire Central Coast service area receives the public EV charging stations needed to accelerate EV adoption and broaden charger accessibility.
“CCCE along with CALeVIP and the valued partners of the South Central Coast Incentive Project together have made $19 million in funding available for chargers and installation right here in our service area.”
The program is run by the “Center for Sustainable Energy” part of the California Energy Commission, and is presented by a partnership with CCCE, Clean Power Alliance, SLO County Air Pollution Control District, Santa Barbara County APCD, SLO Council of Governments and Ventura County APCD.
CCE’s EV charger rebate program has 32 applications including two income-qualified customers. The program has also made some changes since first being launched, including expanding eligibility from home EV chargers for residential customers to now include commercial, industrial, agricultural and public agency customers and sites, as well as expansion into the newer counties in the CCCE service area.
Another program, CCCE’s “Electrify Your Ride” an EV rebate received 196 qualified applications, including 23 income-qualified customer applications, the company said. The State’s same program, “Clean Vehicle Rebate Project” became oversubscribed, so CCCE decided to extend its program through the end of its fiscal year, Sept. 30.
“Since newer electric vehicles [EVs] have improved charge range, pricing and incentives,” the company said, “the final hurdle CCCE customers have expressed is a lack of local charging stations. CCCE is also accelerating access to chargers through energy program funding in addition to the SCCIP CALeVIP EV charger funding. The local energy program called ‘Charge Your Ride’ incentivizes EV charging stations and installation for residential, commercial and public agency customers.”
“As customers become more comfortable with the idea and benefits of owning or leasing an EV, their final question prior to switching remains, how and where can I conveniently charge my EV?” said CCCE Director of Energy Programs, Jon Griesser. “CCCE is doing its part to help accelerate EV adoption by helping customers install charging equipment at home and funding the installation of publicly accessible charging infrastructure throughout our service area.”
For information on CCCE’s South Central Coast Incentive Project, see: https://calevip.org/incentive-project/south-central-coast.
