Monterey County budget committee recommends accepting state grants to electrify municipal fleet

Monterey County Budget Committee members on Tuesday reviewed a staff recommendation to accept state grant awards to accelerate municipal fleet electrification and to forward the grant acceptance to the Board of Supervisors.

County sustainability staff said the multi-jurisdictional program—branded in presentations as the "Green Zones" Monterey Bay Municipal Fleet Electrification and Work Accelerator Project—secured $15.7 million in total awards from the California Air Resources Board and the California Energy Commission, with the county expected to receive about $10.4 million. The awards cover four project components: project management and barrier planning, workforce development, procurement and installation of electric vehicles and charging stations, and grant administration. Across partner jurisdictions staff said the scope totals roughly 91 electric vehicles and 95 charging stations; the county’s portion includes purchasing 55 EVs and installing 46 charging stations and equipping vehicles with telematics for usage data collection.

Sustainability staff said the award requires a 1:1 match. The county’s match will be met largely by leveraging capital investments already made in three county solar projects (on county government facilities), which staff said are projected to yield substantial long‑term benefits and allow the county to avoid new cash outlays for this program. Staff described the state grants as $10,000,000 from the Air Resources Board (EV purchases) and $5,600,000 from the Energy Commission (charging infrastructure), noting final contract terms and site-level scopes could shift during negotiations.

During committee questions Chair Church asked about the types of vehicles selected and why some per-unit estimates appeared high; staff said early lists matched outgoing vehicle types for one‑for‑one replacement and that model choices could be revised during the 2026 procurement process. On charger costs, staff said the budget used high-level level‑2 estimates and added roughly 30% contingency to account for public-works management and site-specific needs, and that detailed cost estimates would be refined as department scopes are confirmed.

A supervisor praised staff for leading the multi-jurisdictional application and asked how funds would be divided among partners; staff replied the county is the largest recipient and offered to supply a partner-level breakdown to the committee. No public comments were received on the item. Staff will return the recommended acceptance to the Board of Supervisors for final action and will continue negotiations with the state agencies and internal departments to finalize project scopes, budgets and capital-improvement adjustments.

Next steps: staff will confirm department scopes, adjust capital-improvement project entries as needed, present final figures to the capital improvements committee, and bring the recommended grant acceptance to the Board of Supervisors for approval before executing grant agreements with state partners.