The LADWP To Expand Free Electric Vehicle Charging Stations In Underserved Communities

The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power is taking steps to make electric vehicles more accessible by installing and operating EV Fast-Charging Station Plazas in underserved communities, which are mostly in south and east L.A. and the San Fernando Valley.

The LADWP is now looking to connect with local partners, especially those with land, who want to help the city reach its goal of 100% carbon-free energy by 2035. Some local churches, including the City of Refuge Church in West Rancho Dominguez and Restoration-Los Angeles Church in South L.A., have agreed to help with the expansion plans.

“We realized each one of our churches has property,” said Bishop Noel Jones, senior pastor at the City of Refuge Church. “So that when we put together the EV stations, we wouldn’t have to buy the property and church folk can come and get charged while they’re in church.”

The LADWP has also increased its rebate for used electric vehicles.

If your household is participating in the Lifeline or EZ-SAVE Low Income Customer Assistance programs, you can now apply to get up to an additional $2,500 rebate, bringing the total rebate amount to $4,000.

“Residents in our underserved communities may discover that an EV is no longer beyond their family's financial reach,” said Cynthia McClain-Hill, president of the Los Angeles Board of Water and Power Commissioners.

The parking lot at LADWP’s Hope Street headquarters is an example of what the new plazas might look like. It has 24 Level 2 EV chargers, which can charge fully electric vehicles from empty to 80% in about 4 to 10 hours, and plug-in hybrid EVs in about 1 to 2 hours.

It also has three DC fast chargers, which can charge fully electric vehicles from empty to 80% in just 20 minutes to 1 hour, but will not work for most plug-in hybrid EVs currently on the market, according to the Department of Transportation. These publicly available chargers are free for up to 4 hours at a time on weekdays from 7 a.m. to 6 p.m.

The EV chargers and boosted rebate is part of the LADWP’s “Powered by Equity” initiative. It’s designed to “rectify past inequities and ensure a just and equitable clean energy transition” for the city, according to the utility.

“Powered by Equity” is the result of a two-year study between UCLA and the Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL).

Researchers analyzed an archive of energy consumption data and hosted listening sessions to come up with “LA100 Equity Strategies.” The study is a detailed analysis of L.A.’s clean energy investment inequities. It also outlines more than 50 ways officials can address those inequities, including housing, local solar, and truck electrification.

Stephanie Pincetl was one of those researchers. She’s a professor at the UCLA Institute of the Environment and Sustainability and founding director of the California Center for Sustainable Communities.

Pincetl told LAist the city needs to really communicate the benefits of going 100% renewable with the residents and ratepayers of Los Angeles. That’s not an easy message to get across, she added, and the LADWP can’t do it alone.

Pincetl believes there needs to be a coordinated strategy between the LADWP and other city departments, specifically those that manage transportation and housing.

Pincetl also said she thinks residents underestimate the significance of having a municipal utility. That's because investor-owned utilities are more concerned about shareholder revenue than they are about the ratepayers and are much less willing to take these kinds of steps toward electrification, she added.