Laguna Beach approves $4.7 million EV charging plan

Laguna Beach city council approved contracts worth approximately $4.7 million on Oct. 13 to build and maintain electric vehicle charging infrastructure. The agreement covers the design, construction, and a 10-year operational period for the new systems.

The project includes a total of 42 charging units. Thirty-one units will be installed at the city corporation yard. Eleven units will be placed at City Hall to serve non-police municipal vehicles. Council members voted against including a separate contract for five additional chargers intended for the police department.

Mayor Pro Tem Hallie Jones stated that previous councils established fleet conversion as a high priority to meet climate goals. She expressed strong support for the general fleet transition but noted a lack of immediate need for police charging stations.

City officials secured rebates from Southern California Edison to reduce installation costs. Tom Perez, acting director of public works and utilities, confirmed that SCE approved rebates for three distinct projects. The corporation yard project received $630,334 in rebates. The City Hall general fleet project received $145,146. The police department project received $114,675.

Perez noted that the rebate applications were fixed and required contract execution by Dec. 31 to remain valid. The city had previously postponed the item on Aug. 4 after council members requested a cost-benefit analysis and ideas for public access.

A consultant from ICF projected that the shift to electric vehicles could save the city roughly $2.8 million over ten years. This estimate assumes fuel costs remain at current elevated levels. The projection accounts for nearly $4 million in various incentives and rebates.

Specific funding sources include an estimated $1.5 million from the California Low Carbon Fuel Standard incentive. An additional $1.1 million comes from the California Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive, which applies to medium and heavy-duty vehicles. The Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee has already awarded the city $250,000 for electric transit buses and eligible chargers.

The council directed staff to explore public-private partnerships for downtown charging. Assistant City Manager Jeremy Frimond explained that the city could lease downtown parking spaces to car manufacturers. These companies would install and maintain the stations and collect revenue. In exchange, the partnership would provide the capital project at no cost to the city, offsetting the loss in parking revenue.