Want To Install EV Charging Stations?

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON OFFERS TO FOOT THE BILL, IF SELECTED, WITH CHARGE READY PROGRAM.

By Lynette Bertrand

Managers: If your community has been yearning for electric vehicle charging stations, read on.

Southern California Edison unveiled its Charge Ready program this summer. The $436-million program will add 38,000 new electric car chargers throughout SCE’s service area over the next five years.

Through this program, SCE pays for all of the infrastructure, including undergrounding conduit and permits. That’s usually the most significant cost for installing EV charging stations in a community and what has been a deterrent in the past, said Mary Finn Parker, Multifamily Program Manager for Southern California Edison.

Homeowners associations must still purchase the charging stations themselves, but SCE does provide a rebate that they can apply toward this cost.

Finn Parker said a community must install a minimum of 4 ports to apply for the Charge

Ready program. And the ports must be close together to make it economically feasible.

“HOA communities don’t want to tell all of their owners to put in charging stations in their garages because if they do that, they overload our transformers and it’s now on the HOA dime to pay for upgrades,” Finn Parker said.

What sometimes happens is that homeowners sometimes purchase 220-volt chargers and put them in their garages. The energy overload then blows up the transformer in the neighborhood, which ends up becoming a safety problem and a costly fix.

“My neighbor has two Teslas and blew up their panel. They had no power and a big nightmare. They spent thousands of dollars on their home panel to upgrade it. This is a way to get around that. Edison will pick up the tab. We’ll pay for the transformation update,” Finn Parker said.

Not every HOA will qualify. Once a community applies, SCE will come out to evaluate the property and decide what’s most economical

and practical. Whether a project gets funded by SCE depends on many factors including where the transformers are located in the neighborhood, nearby railroads, and major city streets location or interference.

Finn Parker said managers who have interested board members or communities should call her and not delay. The program has been very popular since it was announced earlier this summer.

“There’s huge interest and demand. I talked to a board director earlier today and they realize this is coming down the pipeline,” she said. “The cars of the future are all electric.”

Finn Parker said demand has also been on the rise due to the pandemic that kept workers home. Many used to charge their electric vehicles at EV stations in their office building parking lot. Now that they’re working from home, they find themselves with no place to charge.

“It’s a very popular program and on a first come first served basis for applications,” she said. “The sooner you get an application in, the sooner Edison will come out and verify it. While waiting for Edison, communities should look at the different charging stations they can purchase. When we say yes, we’re going to do this, they have to have a purchase order for the charging station ready to go. They must pick the stations and the company. We have an approved list of charging station manufacturers on our website and testimonials.”

Finn Parker said in addition to doing research and selecting the charging stations, communities can take a few other steps to prepare for this project:

· Develop maps of the property and identify where you want the charging stations located.

· Pinpoint where the transformer is in relation to the property.

· Be knowledgeable on ADA requirements.

Edison offered a similar EV program to HOAs three years ago. And funding for that program was exhausted quickly. Finn Parker predicts it will be the case again this time around.

“When the money is gone, it’s gone,” she said.

Once approved by Southern California Edison, EV projects will take anywhere from nine months to a year to complete.

In the interest of making EV charging available to all Californians, Charge Ready sets a target to locate 50% of the chargers in state-designated disadvantaged communities, or economicallyimpacted communities that suffer most from the negative effects of air pollution. If you’re in one of these select areas, SCE will even purchase the charging stations for the property. Refer to the link in the additional resources sidebar to see SCE’s list of disadvantaged communities to see if your property is located in those areas.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

Mary Finn Parker, MULTIFAMILY PROGRAM MANAGER FOR SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA EDISON | Mary.finn@sce.com | (714) 973-5777

EDISON’S LIST OF DISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES: https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen/sb535

TO APPLY FOR CHARGE READY ONLINE: https://www.sce.com/evbusiness/chargeready/ready-to-apply

LIST OF APPROVED PRODUCTS (CHARGING STATIONS) FROM EDISON: https://app.powerbi.com/