State-local partnership to make $7 million available in tri-county area.

Information provided by Monterey Bay Community Power.

Monterey Bay Community Power, the California Energy Commission and the Center for Sustainable Energy are set to launch a $7 million incentive project in Monterey, San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties to accelerate easy access to electric vehicle infrastructure by offering incentives for the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging stations.

According to a recent release, the Central Coast Incentive Project is an initiative of the energy commission’s California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project, which works with local community partners to develop and implement regional incentive projects for charging infrastructure that support the adoption of electric vehicles statewide. The commission is providing $6 million for the project, and MBCP is providing $1 million a year for three years.

The California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project and its regional projects are implemented by the Center for Sustainable Energy and funded primarily by the commission’s Clean Transportation Program (also known as the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program).

The Center of Sustainable Energy and Community Power will co-host an informational webinar on October 24 at 10:30 a.m. to take questions about the Central Coast Incentive Project and support local organizations interested in applying for incentives.

Launching on October 30, the Central Coast Incentive Project will provide qualifying sites with rebates to help cover eligible equipment and installation costs—with additional incentives for sites within a disadvantaged community, the release said. Funding will be granted on a first-come, first-served basis and all applicants must apply on or after October 30 before purchasing or installing chargers in order to be eligible for reimbursement. Potential applicants are encouraged to begin important pre-application tasks such as design, engineering, utility service request, site assessment and site verification form completion as soon as possible and prior to applying.

Several other regions across California that have benefited from the infrastructure funding have experienced high participation rates, due in part to recent increases in EV adoption as well as the desire by public sites such as hotels and shopping centers to attract more business, the release said. Participants also cite substantial incentives as a key factor in prior project successes.

“The Monterey Bay Region is poised to dramatically increase electric vehicle adoption,” said MBCP CEO Tom Habashi. “MBCP and CALeVIP are key drivers toward improving one of the major local deterrents of EV adoption: EV charging infrastructure.”

According to the release, currently less than 2% of vehicles in the Monterey Bay region are electric and lack of local charging stations is the last significant barrier to increased EV adoption.