SCE launches program to install 38,000 EV chargers

by Jul 16, 2021

In California, businesses, government agencies and other organizations are now able to participate in the $436-million Charge Ready program, the largest electric vehicle charging infrastructure program in the nation run by an investor-owned electric utility company. The program from Southern California Edison (SCE) will see the addition of approximately 38,000 new electric car chargers throughout the SCE service area over the next five years. Through Charge Ready, SCE installs and maintains the supporting EV charging infrastructure while site hosts, who are non-residential SCE customers, typically own, operate and maintain qualified charging stations.  The large-scale program is an expansion of the Charge Ready Pilot that the utility launched three years ago. During the pilot phase, SCE partnered with businesses, local governments and other organizations to add more than 2,700 EV chargers at more than 150 sites. SCE will continue to focus on providing charging infrastructure at workplaces, public parking lots, schools, hospitals and destination centers, with an added emphasis on condominium and apartment complexes. 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 economically-impacted communities that suffer most from the negative effects of air pollution.  In addition to Charge Ready for passenger EVs, SCE launched a program last year for larger trucks, buses and off-road industrial equipment called Charge Ready Transport, which aims to add charging to support at least 8,490 medium- and heavy-duty EVs over a five-year period. The $356 million program is also modeled after the Charge Ready pilot. Link to the news: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210712005747/en/SCE-Launches-Program-to-Install-38000-EV-Chargers/