Ventura, CA – Ventura County Air Pollution Control District (APCD), Ventura County Regional Energy Alliance (VCREA) and their partner, Clean Power Alliance (CPA) are excited to announce the upcoming tri-county regional launch of the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP) on July 27.
“CALeVIP is an exciting opportunity to bring more EV infrastructure to the region and help Ventura County meet California’s statewide goal of 5 Million ZEVs on the roads by 2030,” said County Supervisor Matt LaVere, Chair of the VCREA Board of Directors. “We are excited to work with our regional partners to make EVs accessible to all communities.”
The tri-county CALeVIP Project seeks to rapidly expand the electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties and is funded through a combination of grants from California Energy Commission (CEC) and local partners. The CALeVIP Project is administered by the nonprofit Center for Sustainable Energy.
“We are very excited about the launch of the largest EV charging infrastructure expansion effort in our county. Vehicular emissions are still a significant source of ground level ozone air pollution” said Dr. Laki Tisopulos, APCD Director. “Over the last 9 years we have helped fund 78 new charging stations and our funding commitment through CALeVIP will increase that number several fold, significantly expanding EV charging access and helping Ventura County meet state zero-emission vehicle goals.”
On December 8, 2020, in an effort to leverage grant funding from CEC, the APCD Board approved investment of $1.5 million over a three-year period towards installation of EV charging stations in Ventura County through CALeVIP. The CPA Board of Directors then approved one year of funding worth $570,000 on May 6, 2021. Due in part to these funding contributions from APCD and CPA, there will be nearly $6 million available to fund an estimated 650 new chargers, including 70 fast chargers in Ventura County, the largest one-time investment yet.
“Transportation electrification is a high priority here at CPA,” said Ted Bardacke, Executive Director of CPA. “We look forward the seeing the results of this partnership and have committed additional funding in Los Angeles County as well so that drivers moving through our entire region can be assured of places to charge their EVs.”
CALeVIP offers rebates for the purchase and installation of both Level 2 and DC fast chargers with increased funding for multi-unit dwellings, disadvantaged communities, and low-income communities. Funds are available on a first-come, first-served basis.
The program will be launched on July 27. A webinar on project requirements will be held on July 15.
Because of the high interest regarding the project and expectation that funds may be reserved within hours of program launch, APCD and CPA recommends that all interested parties register and attend the webinar (register here) and begin working with an eligible EV charger vendor. These vendors will help prepare materials to submit applications at the program launch. For more information about program requirements, view the project website here. More information at https://calevip.org/incentive-project/south-central-coast.
Both APCD and VCREA have a long history of working closely with partners in the tri-counties on EV planning and implementation. APCD and VCREA serve on the Electric Drive 805 coalition’s steering committee, which also includes the Community Environmental Council, Central Coast Clean Cities Coalition (C5), and the air pollution control districts of Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties. This regional CALeVIP application was a joint effort involving the steering committee members of Electric Drive 805 as well as CPA, Central Coast Community Energy (3CE), County of Ventura Executive Office Sustainability Division and County of Santa Barbara Community Services Department.
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QUESTION…..IF we don’t have enough electricity to get us through a heat wave without rolling blackouts, how are we going to provide energy for all those electric cars that will be forced down our throats? Inquiring minds want to know, governor, attorney governor, state senators and assemblymen. The list of villains doesn’t end there…..county supervisors, mayors and council members.
EV cars are NOT being “thrust down our throats.” They are transition vehicles; it will be a generation or more before there are more EV than gas guzzlers. No one is forcing you to buy an EV, hybrid or otherwise, the fact that they are less polluting, less maintenance and a better ride (they glide with no piston engine noise) are factors that will allow the free market to embrace them. Calm down, no one’s taking away your GASCAR. There are no ‘villains’ here, just people (elected and otherwise) who want a better, cleaner world. Guess you’re against that, oh well.
Interesting points you make John. And thank you for the conversation: