Running An Electric Vehicle On Clean Electricity In The Bay Area Peninsula

Electric vehicles have many benefits that gas and diesel vehicles do not. At the moment, with gas and diesel fuel prices being so high, more and more people may be evaluating the situation and considering replacing an internal combustion engine vehicle with a fully electric one. For those who would like to go a step further and charge their electric vehicles with clean, renewable electricity, there are options. One is to get a home solar power system, rooftop solar, or ground-mounted solar. Some EV owners can’t choose that option for various reasons, but there is another much less costly option: signing up for clean, renewable electricity provided by a community choice aggregator, such as Peninsula Clean Energy.

Phillip Kobernick, Associate Director of Energy Programs at Peninsula Clean Energy, answered some questions about charging an electric vehicle with clean electricity.

What is the Peninsula Clean Energy service area and how many people live there?

We serve all of San Mateo County and the city of Los Banos in Merced county, approximately 800,000 residents.

What options do you provide to your customers who want to run their homes on clean, renewable electricity?

By default, all customers are on our EcoPlus rate and receive clean carbon-free electricity at lower rates than the investor-owned utility. This is mostly comprised of hydro-power, wind, and solar. Customers have the option to “opt up” to Eco100, to get 100% of their electricity from renewables only, comprised of wind and solar. More information on our power sources is at https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/about-us/power-sources/ 

How do your customers with electric vehicles and home chargers use your clean, renewable electricity to charge their vehicles?

All of our customers are already receiving clean energy from us and don’t need to take any action unless they want to opt-up to our 100% renewable rate, Eco100. We also mirror the same rate structure as the local investor-owned utility (at lower rates) and encourage EV drivers to switch to an EV rate to help maximize savings when charging during off-peak hours.

Does your organization offer any incentives for purchasing home EV chargers or electric vehicles?

Yes. Eligible customers can receive an instant $2,000 rebate on qualifying used EV purchases at participating dealerships. This rebate can be combined with other state or local rebates, as applicable. This is a great opportunity for residents with lower incomes to afford used EVs, especially as used EV prices continue to come down and become affordable to more of the community. Info on our rebate at: https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/residential/rebates-offers/ev-rebate-program/ 

We also provide incentives for EV charging in our EV Ready program, mostly targeting multi-family properties. We provide free technical assistance to help property owners determine what chargers are a best fit for their property and how they can reduce costs in their EV charging projects, as well as incentives. The Middlefield Junction project is an example of a project that used our EV Ready program. This program has had significant success with multi-family retrofit projects, among the most challenging EV charging projects, by focusing on lower cost solutions such as smart Level 1 charging. Info on this program at: https://www.peninsulacleanenergy.com/ev-ready/

About how many of your customers who use your clean, renewable electricity also have electric vehicles?

There are roughly 75k EVs in our service territory, about 15% of all on road vehicles. 

Do you have any incentives for your customers who install home battery systems?

We are currently developing a solar and battery residential program.