REDWOOD CITY, CA — This Affordable Housing Month, WestLight Energy is spotlighting one of the largest efforts to date in California to expand equitable access to electric vehicle charging.
More than 90 EV chargers have been installed at Middlefield Junction, a new 179-unit affordable housing community in North Fair Oaks that celebrated its grand opening May 14, making it one of the largest affordable housing EV charging projects in California. The chargers include a mix of overnight Level 1 and higher-speed Level 2 chargers ready to be assigned to households based on their commuting needs.
“High-quality affordable housing should be paired with the sustainable infrastructure that enables residents to thrive,” Mercy Housing California President Tiffany Bohee said. “At Middlefield Junction, our partnership with WestLight Energy’s EV Ready Program brought more than 90 EV charging stations on-site; giving residents convenient, reliable access to charge at home.”
The Middlefield Junction chargers were installed as part of WestLight Energy’s EV Ready Program, which overall has installed more than 2,500 charging ports, with about two-thirds located at multifamily housing.
“Through EV Ready, our communities are setting the pace on expanding equitable clean transportation options to more residents,” WestLight Energy CEO Shawn Marshall said.
EV Ready is increasing access to clean transportation options for residents by providing technical assistance and incentives that lower EV charging project costs. This primarily leads to installing overnight Level 1 smart outlet chargers that are four to five times cheaper than installing faster Level 2 chargers.
Level 1 overnight charging will meet the daily commuting needs of more than nine out of 10 Bay Area EV drivers, while faster Level 2 chargers can be beneficial to ride-share drivers and others with longer than average daily commuting.
The 76 new Level 1 chargers at Middlefield Junction – in addition to the 16 new Level 2 chargers – are among the thousands that have been installed in the Bay Area through EV Ready and further demonstrate the scaling potential of smart outlets at multifamily housing throughout California and elsewhere.
Since multifamily properties represent one of the biggest existing gaps in EV charging, these projects are demonstrating how to provide much needed EV charging for apartment and condo residents that have historically largely been unable to charge at home.
The California Energy Commission also recently added these Level 1 smart chargers to the Communities in Charge light-duty EV charging incentive, which is entirely focused on multi-family housing.
About WestLight Energy
WestLight Energy is a Community Choice Energy agency. It is the official electricity provider for the communities of San Mateo County and Los Banos. Founded in 2016 with a mission to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, the agency serves a population of 810,000 by providing more than 3,600 gigawatt hours annually of electricity that is 50 percent renewable and 100 percent clean and at lower cost than PG&E. As a community-led, not-for-profit agency, WestLight Energy makes significant investments in its communities to expand access to sustainable and affordable energy solutions. Follow us at PenCleanEnergy.com, X, Facebook and LinkedIn.
