Assemblymember McCarty Introduces Equitable EV Charging Act to Increase Access to EV Charging

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Feb 14, 2024, 11:30 ET

SACRAMENTO, Calif., Feb. 14, 2024 /PRNewswire/ - Assemblymember Kevin McCarty (D-Sacramento) has introduced Assembly Bill 2427, the Equitable EV Charging Act to increase access to electric vehicle (EV) charging for residents of multi-family housing by making it easier to deploy curbside charging.

EV charging at a FLO curbside charger in LA. (CNW Group/FLO)

"The State of California is leading the way to transition our transportation system to 100 percent zero-emission vehicles, but the millions of drivers who don't have access to at-home charging are at risk of being left behind," said Assemblymember Kevin McCarty. "If we want all Californians to have access to electric mobility, we must provide them with convenient and affordable public charging options where they already park: the curb."

Home charging is considered to be the most convenient, cost-effective solution to advance EV adoption. And yet, the California Energy Commission (CEC) found that no more than 33% of multi-family housing residents have access to home charging and that lower income residents, and residents who identify as Black, African American, Hispanic, or Latino have the lowest access to home charging.

Co-sponsored by companies FLO EV Charging (FLO) and It's Electric Inc (itselectric), AB 2427 requires the CEC to assess the potential benefits of curbside charging for those who have the least access and requires the Governor's Office of Business and Economic Development to develop permitting tools and best practices so that local governments can more seamlessly help realize these benefits. It also requires local governments to consider these tools when developing permitting requirements and criteria to assist developers in siting and deploying curbside charging.

"If we strategically leverage the public right-of-way, we open up numerous new possibilities to increase communities' access to EV charging right at the curb," said Louis Tremblay, President and CEO of FLO. "But doing so requires planning and collaboration between both the state and local governments. This bill supports that work and will help expand charging access for the Californians that need it the most."

"Beyond California's leading example, the country needs 1.2 million more public EV chargers by 2030, particularly in dense urban neighborhoods. Today, the biggest barrier to deployment is the cost and complexity of connecting an EV charger directly to the utility's grid. Our charging network fully avoids this barrier, enabling affordable and scalable public charging infrastructure that benefits cities, drivers, and communities," while bringing revenue directly into communities said Nathan King, CEO and Co-Founder of itselectric.

Kevin McCarty represents California's 6th Assembly District, which includes the city of Sacramento, and parts of unincorporated Sacramento County. McCarty serves on the Select Committee on Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure. Website of Assemblymember Kevin McCarty: https://a06.asmdc.org/.

FLO Charging Solutions USA Inc ("FLO") is a leading North American EV charging network operator and a smart charging solutions provider. We fight climate change by accelerating EV adoption through a vertically integrated business model and delivering EV drivers the most dependable charging experience, from curbside to countryside. Every month, we enable more than 1,500,000 charging events thanks to over 100,000 fast and level 2 EV charging stations deployed at public, private and residential locations. FLO operates across North America and our high-quality charging stations are assembled with care in Michigan and Quebec. To learn more about FLO, please visit https://www.flo.com/ .

itselectric provides small-footprint, design-centered, Level-2 charging posts and is the only curbside charging network that offers revenue sharing to property owners. Once a property is deemed eligible, at no cost to the property owner, itselectric installs and maintains a low-profile charger and shares proceeds with the property owners. With this business model, itselectric helps cities meet their carbon reduction targets and reduces governments' capital expenditures by completely avoiding the utility infrastructure upgrades normally needed to support public charging. To learn more about itselectric, please visit https://www.itselectric.us.

SOURCE FLO