Groups of coalition signed an agreement to support San Diego Gas & Electric’s (SDG&E’s) Electric Vehicle Grid-Integration pilot project, which aims to install EV charging infrastructure at up to 550 sites throughout San Diego. The program will offer special rates to encourage more EV drivers charging at optimal times for the grid.

The San Diego region is already a leader of clean transportation, and it is also home to more than 16,000 plug-in EVs. SDG&E’s Vehicle-Grid Integration pilot will help to meet Governor Jerry Brown’s call for 1.5 million EVs by 2025 in California because it combines effort between the public and private sectors, leveraging the unique skills of all the participants – including environmental justice, electric vehicle service providers, automakers and labors.

The initiative will support efforts to fight climate change, as the transportation sector currently creates approximately 40% of the state's greenhouse gas emissions, whereas clean EVs are emissions-free.

"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 % 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. It has already submitted to the California Public Utilities Commission.

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% 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