Committee presses city on delays to fleet electrification, cites PG&E interconnection challenges
May 05, 2022 | San Francisco County, California
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The Government Audit & Oversight Committee asked city officials May 5 for a status update on municipal fleet electrification and what is needed to meet a 100% zero‑emission requirement for light‑duty passenger vehicles.
Lowell Chiu, Energy Program Manager at the Department of the Environment, said the municipal fleet ordinance requires light‑duty passenger vehicles to be zero‑emission by the end of 2022. Catherine Spalding of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission said the PUC is the city's clean energy provider and is supporting municipal charger planning but is encountering substantial costs and delays tied to PG&E distribution interconnection practices, which in several projects require primary‑service electrical equipment that is large and costly and not technically needed for modest EV charger load increases.
Douglas (City Administrator’s Office) reported the city had roughly 13% of municipal vehicles as zero‑emission at the time of the hearing, with about 24% electric (including plug‑in hybrids). Many departments seeking waivers cited lack of overnight charging at vehicle parking locations; ADM and fleet officials said 65% of granted waivers were for lack of charging infrastructure where vehicles are parked. The city is taking steps to consolidate and share fleet resources: the newly opened 49 South Van Ness facility will host shared fleet vehicles and add charging capacity to move dozens of vehicles from older gasoline fleets to plug‑in or battery‑electric operation.
Committee members pressed for a comprehensive inventory and a roadmap that ties vehicle replacements, facility upgrades, telematics usage data and grid interconnection requirements into a costed plan. PUC staff said that, while the city presses for federal regulatory relief regarding PG&E primary‑service requirements, the PUC can help coordinate municipal projects, propose EV‑specific rates and combine interconnection requests to reduce cost and timeline when multiple loads can be aggregated.
Public commenters urged urgency and called for published stepwise timelines, inventories of existing chargers and clean power availability, and regular public progress reports. The committee continued Item 7 to the call of the chair for future follow up.
What to watch: follow‑up committee checks on telematics usage data, a citywide inventory of chargeable parking locations, combined interconnection project proposals to PG&E, and the 49 South Van Ness shared fleet performance.
Lowell Chiu, Energy Program Manager at the Department of the Environment, said the municipal fleet ordinance requires light‑duty passenger vehicles to be zero‑emission by the end of 2022. Catherine Spalding of the San Francisco Public Utilities Commission said the PUC is the city's clean energy provider and is supporting municipal charger planning but is encountering substantial costs and delays tied to PG&E distribution interconnection practices, which in several projects require primary‑service electrical equipment that is large and costly and not technically needed for modest EV charger load increases.
Douglas (City Administrator’s Office) reported the city had roughly 13% of municipal vehicles as zero‑emission at the time of the hearing, with about 24% electric (including plug‑in hybrids). Many departments seeking waivers cited lack of overnight charging at vehicle parking locations; ADM and fleet officials said 65% of granted waivers were for lack of charging infrastructure where vehicles are parked. The city is taking steps to consolidate and share fleet resources: the newly opened 49 South Van Ness facility will host shared fleet vehicles and add charging capacity to move dozens of vehicles from older gasoline fleets to plug‑in or battery‑electric operation.
Committee members pressed for a comprehensive inventory and a roadmap that ties vehicle replacements, facility upgrades, telematics usage data and grid interconnection requirements into a costed plan. PUC staff said that, while the city presses for federal regulatory relief regarding PG&E primary‑service requirements, the PUC can help coordinate municipal projects, propose EV‑specific rates and combine interconnection requests to reduce cost and timeline when multiple loads can be aggregated.
Public commenters urged urgency and called for published stepwise timelines, inventories of existing chargers and clean power availability, and regular public progress reports. The committee continued Item 7 to the call of the chair for future follow up.
What to watch: follow‑up committee checks on telematics usage data, a citywide inventory of chargeable parking locations, combined interconnection project proposals to PG&E, and the 49 South Van Ness shared fleet performance.
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