More OC Apartments In Line For Electric Vehicle Charging Stations

SAN CLEMENTE, CA — A proposal to install 2,000 electric vehicle charges at south Orange County apartments, condominium complexes and workplaces was submitted, Tuesday by San Diego Gas & Electric.

The proposal would serve as an extension of SDG&E's installation of more than 3,000 chargers at more than 250 locations around the region in recent years. The proposed expansion of the company's Power Your Drive Program would add chargers at some 200 sites over two years.

According to SDG&E, customers in the two counties own roughly 47,000 electric vehicles. However, EV ownership can be challenging for residents in multi-unit housing such as apartment complexes that do not have an easily accessible charging station. Roughly one half of SDG&E customers live in multi- unit complexes, the company said.

"Our customers are telling us that they want to see more electric vehicle chargers where they live and work, and we're enabling customers to save money by charging their vehicles at the right time -- when renewable energy is high and demand on the grid is low," said Estela de Llanos, SDG&E's vice president of clean transportation and sustainability.

State officials have expressed a desire for five million electric vehicles to be on the road in California by 2030 to mitigate greenhouse gas emissions. SDG&E is tasked with supporting 500,000 of that goal and expects to continue expanding infrastructure for electric vehicles in the coming years.

The company launched the Power Your Drive pilot program in 2016 and has installed 30% of its electric vehicle chargers in communities that suffer from increased levels of air pollution and emissions. Customers using chargers installed as part of the program also use an average of 78 percent renewable energy, according to SDG&E.

City News Service, Patch Editor Ashley Ludwig contributed to this report.