Southern California Edison begins construction for $356M EV charging program

Work began this week on the first five electric vehicle (EV) charging sites for Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready Transport, as a means of helping commercial fleets deal with the costs of EV charging infrastructure.

The infrastructure is meant for both medium and heavy-duty electric vehicles. It will be installed at Antelope Valley Schools Transportation Agency, Visalia Unified School District, Pleasant View Elementary School, and two separate locations for Porterville Transit. SCE will invest $356 million into the project overall.

“These five sites will support over 80 new electric school and transit buses in a region with notoriously bad air quality,” Justin Bardin, SCE program manager for Charge Ready Transport, said. “These sites are particularly exciting because they are not small pilots, but, rather, significant projects that will propel these organizations toward a clean transportation future.”

Charge Ready Transport will be rolled out over the next five years. While these first five sites — all meant for school or transit bus fleets — represent a significant step, SCE intends to eventually add charging stations to no less than 870 commercial sites within the company’s 50,000 square mile service area.

The company estimates this could service at least 8,490 industrial EVs, from buses to electric delivery trucks and forklifts. Both transit and school bus sites will be eligible for rebates to help with costs.

“In order to achieve our state’s climate goals, we believe that 75 percent of the state’s vehicles need to be electric by 2045. That includes 67 percent of medium-duty vehicles and 38 percent of heavy-duty vehicles,” Prescott said, citing an SCE analysis of steps needed to meet California’s 2045 grid and carbon neutrality ambitions.

Construction is also moving forward despite the ongoing threat of the COVID-19 pandemic. This prompted some changes in how SCE handled inspections, which turned to drive-by and Facetime inspections. It also prompted review and approval of design work to go virtual as well.