Redwood Coast Energy Authority Board of Directors
December 21, 2023

(Agenda revised 12/18/23, 1:30 p.m.)
Redwood Coast Energy Authority
633 3rd Street, Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 269-1700 Toll-Free (800) 931-7232 Fax: (707) 269-1777 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.redwoodenergy.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS REGULAR MEETING

REVISED AGENDA
Wharfinger Building, downstairs Bay Room December 21, 2023 1 Marina Way, Eureka, CA 95501 Thursday, 3:30 p.m.

Any member of the public needing special accommodation to participate in this meeting or access the meeting materials should email [email protected] or call (707) 269- 1700 at least 3 business days before the meeting. Assistive listening devices are available.

Pursuant to Government Code section 54957.5, all writings or documents relating to any item on this agenda which have been provided to a majority of the Board, including those received less than 72 hours prior to the Committee’s meeting, will be made available to the public at www.RedwoodEnergy.org.

NOTE: Speakers wishing to distribute materials to the Board at the meeting, please provide 13 copies to the Board Clerk.

THIS IS A HYBRID IN-PERSON AND VIRTUAL MEETING.

The Board of Directors has returned to in-person hybrid meetings. When attending Board meetings, please socially distance as much as possible and be courteous to those who choose to wear a mask.

To participate in the meeting online, go to https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81972368051. To participate by phone, call (669) 900-6833 or (253) 215-8782. Enter webinar ID: 819 7236 8051.

To make a comment during the public comment periods, raise your hand in the online Zoom webinar, or press star (*) 9 on your phone to raise your hand. You will continue to hear the meeting while you wait. When it is your turn to speak, a staff member will unmute your phone or computer. You will have 3 minutes to speak.

You may submit written public comment by email to [email protected].

Please identify the agenda item number in the subject line. Comments will be included in the meeting record but not read aloud during the meeting.

While downloading the Zoom application may provide a better meeting experience, Zoom does not need to be installed on your computer to participate. After clicking the webinar link above, click “start from your browser.”
1 RCEA December 21, 2023, Board of Directors REVISED Meeting Agenda

OPEN SESSION Call to Order

1. ROLL CALL - REMOTE DIRECTOR PARTICIPATION

1.1. Approve teleconference participation request for this meeting by Director pursuant to Brown Act revisions of AB 2449 due to an emergency circumstance to be briefly described.

2. REPORTS FROM MEMBER ENTITIES

3. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
This time is provided for people to address the Board or submit written communications on matters not on the agenda.

At the conclusion of all oral communications, the Board may respond to statements. Any request that requires Board action will be set by the Board for a future agenda or referred to staff.

4. CONSENT CALENDAR
All matters on the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine by the Board and are enacted in one motion. There is no separate discussion of any of these items. If discussion is required, that item is removed from the Consent Calendar and considered separately. At the end of the reading of the Consent Calendar, Board members or members of the public can request that an item be removed for separate discussion.

4.1 Approve Minutes of November 16, 2023, Board Meeting.

4.2 Approve Disbursements Report.

4.3 Accept Financial Reports.

4.4 Authorize an Increase in the Executive Director’s Spending Limit to $30,000 for Labor and Employment Matter Legal Services for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.

4.5 Authorize the Executive Director to Execute Amendment No. 1 to Legal Services Agreement with PefferLegal for RuralREN Regulatory Support and Legal Services Through December 2026 for a Not to Exceed Value of $100,000 per Year, Subject to Sufficient Budgetary Allocations.

4.6 Authorize the Executive Director to Execute the $20,000 E-Bike Voucher Funding Agreement with the City of Arcata.

5. REMOVED FROM CONSENT CALENDAR ITEMS
Items removed from the Consent Calendar will be heard under this section.

6. OLD BUSINESS – None.

7. NEW BUSINESS

7.1. Presentation on January 2024 PG&E Rate Change (Information only)

7.2. Presentation on Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Readiness Blueprint (Information only)

8. STAFF REPORTS

8.1 Deputy Executive Director’s Report on Upcoming Community Advisory Committee Appointments and Other Topics as Needed
2 RCEA December 21, 2023, Board of Directors REVISED Meeting Agenda

9. FUTURE AGENDA ITEMS
Any request that requires Board action will be set by the Board for a future agenda or referred to staff.

10. CLOSED SESSION

10.1. Conference with Legal Counsel: Anticipated litigation, pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2).

10.2. Conference with Legal Counsel: Existing Litigation, CPUC 22-02-005, Petition for Modification of D. 23-06-055, pursuant to Government Code 54956.9(d)(1).

10.3. Public Employee Performance Evaluation, pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)(1): Executive Director.

11. RECONVENE TO OPEN SESSION

12. CLOSED SESSION REPORT

13. ADJOURNMENT

NEXT REGULAR MEETING
Thursday, January 25, 2024, 3:30 p.m.

Wharfinger Building downstairs Bay Room, 1 Marina Way, Eureka, CA 95501 Online and phone participation will also be possible via Zoom. 3 This page
intentionally
left blank.
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STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 1.1
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: RCEA Board of Directors
FROM: Eileen Verbeck, Deputy Executive Director
SUBJECT: Member Teleconference Participation

BACKGROUND
Since emergency Brown Act meeting law changes went into effect in 2020 due to the COVID-19 public health emergency, the RCEA Board of Directors, Community Advisory Committee and the subcommittees of those bodies met online with no physical, public meeting location.

Governor Newsom signed AB 361 into law in September 2021, which allowed these bodies to continue meeting completely virtually without publishing each member’s participation location while the COVID state of emergency continued and state or local officials recommended social distancing measures or the RCEA Board determined that meeting in person posed health and safety risks.

The COVID-19 State of Emergency ended on February 28, 2023, and RCEA Board and CAC meetings returned to meeting in-person at a physical location, with allowances under existing Brown Act rules or new AB 2449 Brown Act rules should a Board or CAC member need to participate from a remote location for certain reasons. If another state of emergency is declared, these bodies may be able to return to completely remote meetings.

SUMMARY
RCEA Board Directors may attend up to two meetings per year from a remote location without making the location accessible to the public for the following reasons:

1. “Just cause”
a. To provide childcare or caregiving need to a child, parent, grandparent, grandchild, sibling, spouse, or domestic partner;
b. Due to a contagious illness that prevents the member from attending in-person; c. Due to a need related to a physical or mental disability as defined in Government Code sections 12926 and 12926.1 not otherwise accommodated; and d. Due to travel while on official business of the legislative body or another state or local agency.

2. “Emergency circumstance” due to a physical or family medical emergency that prevents the member from attending in person.

If a Board Director would like to attend the meeting remotely due to an emergency circumstance, the Board will take action by majority vote to approve the Director’s remote participation. A vote is not necessary for a request to attend remotely for just cause. A brief 5

description, protecting the Director’s (or Director’s family member’s) medical privacy, needs to be provided in both cases.

The remotely participating Board Director needs to publicly disclose at the meeting before any action (vote) is taken, whether anyone 18 years of age or older is present in the room at the remote location with the Director, and the general nature of the individual’s relationship with the Director.

If the Board Director anticipates needing to participate remotely for more than 2 meetings per year, staff recommends arranging for a publicly and ADA accessible space with visual and audio meeting capabilities from which to participate.

Staff asks to be notified one-week in advance, if possible, of remote meeting attendance so the Director’s publicly and ADA accessible remote meeting address can be published in the agenda, if required per Brown Act open meeting laws.

Current Remote Participation Requests
As of the writing of this staff report, there are no requests for “just cause” or “emergency circumstances” remote director participation.

RECOMMENDED ACTION (if needed)
Approve teleconference participation request for this meeting by Director pursuant to Brown Act revisions of AB 2449 due to an emergency circumstance to be briefly described. 6 Redwood Coast Energy Authority
633 3rd Street, Eureka, CA 95501
Phone: (707) 269-1700 Toll-Free (800) 931-7232 Fax: (707) 269-1777 E-mail: [email protected] Web: www.redwoodenergy.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS DRAFT MEETING MINUTES
Jefferson Community Center Auditorium November 16, 2023 1000 B Street, Eureka, CA 95501 Thursday, 3:30 p.m.

Chair Sheri Woo called a regular meeting of the Board of Directors of the Redwood Coast Energy Authority to order on the above date at 3:33 p.m. Notice of this meeting was posted on November 13, 2023.

PRESENT: Natalie Arroyo, Skip Jorgensen, Kris Mobley, Jason Ramos, Elise Scafani, Vice Chair Sarah Schaefer, Jack Tuttle, Frank Wilson, Chair Sheri Woo. ABSENT: Scott Bauer, Frankie Myers.

STAFF AND OTHERS PRESENT: EDP Renewables Director of Origination Chris Baxter, Business Planning and Finance Director Lori Biondini, Finance Specialist Ronnie Chausse, General Counsel Nancy Diamond, Senior Power Resources Manager Jocelyn Gwynn, The Energy Authority California Account Director Jaclyn Harr, Demand Side Management Director Stephen Kullmann, Board Clerk Lori Taketa, Deputy Executive Director Eileen Verbeck.

REPORTS FROM MEMBER ENTITIES
Community Advisory Committee Board Liaison Mobley asked staff to review the CAC Charter and agenda setting procedures with CAC members when new members are seated in 2024.

Director Arroyo reported on the recent Board tour of the Humboldt Sawmill Company mill and power plant and thanked HSC and RCEA staff for arranging the informative visit.

ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
No member of the public submitted statements or asked to speak at the Chair’s invitation.

Chair Woo closed the non-agenda item public comment period.

CONSENT CALENDAR

4.1 Approve Minutes of October 26, 2023, Board Meeting.

4.2 Approve Disbursements Report.

4.3 Accept Quarterly Budget Report for Fiscal Year 2023-24 Q1.

4.4 Accept Financial Reports.

4.5 Authorize Staff to Sign Check or Authorize ACH Payment for the Purchase of ChargePoint Electric Vehicle Charging Equipment from Campton Electric at a Price Not to Exceed $235,946 in Fulfillment of CEC Rural Electric Vehicle Charging Grant Requirements.

No Director nor member of the public requested discussion of consent calendar items.

M/S: Arroyo, Schaefer: Approve Consent Calendar items.
7 RCEA November 16, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting DRAFT Minutes

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Jorgensen, Mobley, Ramos, Scafani, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Bauer, Myers. Abstain:

None.

CCE BUSINESS - Chair Woo confirmed there was a CCE Business quorum present.

NEW CCE BUSINESS

7.1 Bioenergy Market Adjusting Tariff
Senior Power Resources Manager Gwynn described how CCAs can participate in the state’s BioMAT program to recover above-market costs for bioenergy projects fueled by biogas from municipal or agricultural waste, or biomass from sustainable forestry byproducts. Previously only investor-owned utilities could access these funds which are collected from all ratepayers to offset capital-intensive project procurement. The Board would approve or deny any bioenergy agreements RCEA would be eligible to join through BioMAT program participation.

The Directors discussed:
• Support for learning about and investing in alternative, new, available bioenergy sources;
• Support for biomass energy procurement, fuels reduction and utilization, per RCEA’s strategic plan;
• The potential environmental benefits of methane combustion versus release into the atmosphere; and
• Interest in food waste digestor development and gasification.

Member of the public Daniel Chandler opposed BioMAT participation because of biomass combustion’s global warming gas emissions. Mr. Chandler asked that RCEA invest resources in solar energy development instead of paying inflated prices to support the biomass industry.

Dr. Wendy Ring opposed biomass and biogas combustion due to health and air quality impacts and supported greater local access to affordable composting. Dr. Ring opposed RCEA diverting funds from clean to dirty energy sources. Chair Woo closed the comment period.

M/S: Mobley, Jorgensen: Authorize the Executive Director to approve final RCEA BioMAT program documents for submission to the CPUC, consistent with the substantive terms and conditions of PG&E’s BioMAT program, with approval by RCEA General Counsel.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Jorgensen, Mobley, Scafani, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson. Noes: None. Absent: Bauer, Myers. Abstain: None. Non-Voting: Ramos, Woo.

END OF COMMUNITY CHOICE ENERGY BUSINESS

OLD BUSINESS

8.1 Sandrini Sol 1 Power Purchase Agreement Amendment 2 Senior Power Resources Manager Gwynn described the project’s history, delays and contract amendments. The current amendment includes a commercial operation date 8 RCEA November 16, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting DRAFT Minutes

change, replacement of renewable energy certificates should the project not meet the revised deadline, and an adjusted method for settling transaction costs. EDP Renewables’ Chris Baxter explained how the revisions help the developer finance the project and manage market volatility.

The directors discussed the fate of the solar panel shipments that did not clear Customs and Border Protection, how current battery storage development and transmission upgrades will help manage periodic solar power gluts and grid congestion, and how the new financial settlement method is less advantageous than the previous, but still mitigates risk of volatility in cost differences between what RCEA collects for power generated by the project and the price RCEA pays to serve its load. There were no comments from the public and Chair Woo closed the comment period.

M/S: Schaefer, Arroyo: Approve Resolution 2023-10 Approving the Form of and Authorizing the Execution of the Second Amendment to the Sandrini Power Purchase Agreement with EDPR CA Solar Park II LLC.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Jorgensen, Mobley, Ramos, Scafani, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Bauer, Myers. Abstain:

None.

8.2 RCEA New Office Building Development
Deputy Executive Director Verbeck reported that RCEA now owns the 6,600 square foot parking lot at Third and I Streets. The first floor of the three- to four-story building will house a customer service lobby, education center and public meeting space. There were no comments from the public. Chair Woo closed the comment period.

M/S: Arroyo, Mobley: Authorize staff to issue the request for qualifications for architectural and engineering design work for new construction of RCEA office building at 805 Third Street Eureka, CA.

Authorize the ad hoc building relocation subcommittee to act as a review committee and authorize it to take the following actions: (i) approve evaluation criteria, (ii) approve selected proposal based on the selection criteria to bring to the full Board for review and approval of resulting contract.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Jorgensen, Mobley, Ramos, Scafani, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Bauer, Myers. Abstain:

None.

NEW BUSINESS

9.1 Sonoma Clean Power Mid-Term Reliability Resource Adequacy Agreement Senior Power Resources Manager Gwynn reported. The Fairhaven battery storage project’s delay means that RCEA would fall short of procuring enough resource adequacy (RA) for the 2024 Mid-Term Reliability compliance period. As a replacement, Sonoma Clean Power Authority is willing to sell RCEA excess RA from their Sagebrush II battery storage project in Kern County. This, along with the Sandrini project’s RA, will help RCEA mitigate compliance penalties for certain months in 2024. Sagebrush’s RA costs less than the CPUC penalty for 9 RCEA November 16, 2023, Board of Directors Meeting DRAFT Minutes

inadequate RA procurement. There were no comments from the public and Chair Woo closed the comment period.

M/S: Schaefer, Ramos: Approve Resolution 2023-11 Approving the Form of and Authorizing the Execution of the Resource Adequacy Agreement with Sonoma Clean Power Authority.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Jorgensen, Mobley, Ramos, Scafani, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Bauer, Myers. Abstain:

None.

9.2 Rural REN Statewide Energy Efficiency Program Implementation: PG&E, Southern California Edison and SoCalGas Funding Contracts
Demand Side Management Director Kullmann explained that because the Rural Regional Energy Network will overlap with investor-owned utility (IOU) territories, RCEA and the IOUs must agree on funding processes so RCEA can start fulfilling program administrator duties.

The directors discussed implementation oversight responsibilities, possible Board ad hoc subcommittee formation, and Board-to-Board inter-agency communication. There were no comments from the public and Chair Woo closed the comment period.

M/S: Schaefer, Scafani: Authorize the Executive Director to execute the 2024-2027 PG&E Funding Agreement for $40,420,550; and, upon full execution, authorize the Executive Director to issue solicitations and contracts for consultant and subcontractor services to implement the RuralREN in regions covered by PG&E funding.

Authorize the Executive Director to execute the 2024-2027 Southern California Edison Funding Agreement for $33,683,792 and SoCalGas Funding Agreement for $10,105,138 following the review and approval by RCEA staff and legal counsel; and upon full execution of each agreement, authorize the Executive Director to issue solicitations and contracts for consultant and subcontractor services to implement the RuralREN in the respective regions covered by Southern California Edison and SoCalGas funding.

The motion passed with a unanimous vote. Ayes: Arroyo, Jorgensen, Mobley, Ramos, Scafani, Schaefer, Tuttle, Wilson, Woo. Noes: None. Absent: Bauer, Myers. Abstain:

None.

CLOSED SESSION

12.1. Conference with Legal Counsel: Anticipated litigation, pursuant to Government Code Section 54956.9(d)(2).

12.2. Public Employee Performance Evaluation, pursuant to Government Code Section 54957(b)(1): Executive Director.

There was no public comment regarding the closed session item. The Board adjourned to closed session at 5:05 p.m. and reconvened in open session at 5:59 p.m. Chair Woo stated there were no closed session reports and adjourned the meeting at 5:59 p.m.

Lori Taketa, Clerk of the Board
10 Accrual Basis Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Disbursements Report
As of October 31, 2023
Type Date Num Name Memo Amount
Bill Pmt -Check 10/02/2023 16451 California Public Utilities Commission Citation No. E-4195-0148 -139,149.60 Liability Check 10/05/2023 ACH EDD Taxes, Paydate 10/05/23 -2,273.61 Liability Check 10/05/2023 ACH Internal Revenue Service Taxes, Paydate 10/05/23 -9,410.22 Liability Check 10/05/2023 ACH Newport Group Deferred compensation, Paydate 10/05/23 -604.04 Liability Check 10/05/2023 ACH Ascensus Deferred compensation, Paydate 10/05/23 -1,409.44 Bill Pmt -Check 10/05/2023 16452 Yakovleva, Vera A. CalCCA LegCom Meeting Per Diem Meals -105.00 Paycheck 10/05/2023 ACH Marshall, Matthew R. Retroactive payroll -11,190.54 Liability Check 10/13/2023 ACH Ascensus Deferred compensation, Paydate 10/13/2023 -13,577.31 Liability Check 10/13/2023 ACH EDD Taxes, Paydate 10/13/2023 -7,857.62 Liability Check 10/13/2023 ACH Internal Revenue Service Taxes, Paydate 10/13/2023 -34,492.40 Liability Check 10/13/2023 ACH Newport Group Deferred compensation, Paydate 10/13/2023 -11,891.66 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 ACH Leapfrog Energy September 2023 RA -36,740.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 ACH Viridity Energy Solutions, Inc. September 2023 Tierra Buena RA -16,900.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 ACH CalPine Corporation September 2023 service fees -61,031.52 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 ACH Humboldt Sawmill Co. September 2023 Electricity Generation -654,547.54 Liability Check 10/13/2023 16453 HealthEquity Inc Health Savings Account, Paydate 10/13/2023 -72.07 Check 10/13/2023 16454 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -11.58 Check 10/13/2023 16455 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -18.34 Check 10/13/2023 16456 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -23.99 Check 10/13/2023 16457 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -37.22 Check 10/13/2023 16458 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -52.79 Check 10/13/2023 16459 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -61.66 Check 10/13/2023 16460 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -110.81 Check 10/13/2023 16461 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -144.66 Check 10/13/2023 16462 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -190.60 Check 10/13/2023 16463 NEM Customer NEM Account Close Out -224.99 Check 10/13/2023 16464 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230815-1511 -350.00 Check 10/13/2023 16465 CCE Customer Res EVSE rebate #REVSE36 -258.28 Check 10/13/2023 16466 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230930-1636 -50.00 Check 10/13/2023 16467 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230929-1634 -50.00 Check 10/13/2023 16468 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230921-1607 -100.00 Check 10/13/2023 16469 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230911-1583 -250.00 Check 10/13/2023 16470 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230928-1627 -400.00 Check 10/13/2023 16471 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230622-1415 -1,200.00 Check 10/13/2023 16472 Muro Electric PA Direct Install Non-RES: Eel River School -2,620.00 Check 10/13/2023 16473 O&M Industries PA Direct Install Non-RES: Pacific View Charter School -24,017.90 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16474 Aiqueous, LLC Stage 6 Next 90 & Stage 7 Jan-Dec 2023 -2,224.50 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16475 American Public Power Association CCA Assoc. Membership Sally Regli -1,625.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16476 Ameritas - Dental Dental - November 2023 -2,328.64 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16477 Ameritas - Vision Vision - November 2023 -483.48 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16478 Arcata Technology Center Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -510.18 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16479 AT&T RCAM Router charges - ACV: 08/19 - 09/18 -163.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16480 AT&T RCAM Use charges: 09/29 - 10/28/2023 -853.90 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16481 AT&T Long Distance Phone charges 09/25/2023 - 10/24/2023 -108.01 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16482 Baker Tilly US, LLP Accounting services - period ending 9/29/23 -12,676.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16483 Blue Lake Rancheria Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -1,461.36 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16484 Boudreau, D. RE+ 2023 Travel reimbursement -65.33 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16485 CalCCA Operational Member dues Q2 FY 23/24 -24,426.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16486 City of Arcata Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -1,379.73 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16487 City of Arcata September 2023 Utility User Tax -14,436.69 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16488 City of Arcata September 2023 Excessive Energy Use Tax -1,761.56

11 Accrual Basis Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Disbursements Report
As of October 31, 2023
Type Date Num Name Memo Amount
Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16489 City of Blue Lake Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -547.30 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16490 City of Eureka-Water 917 3rd St & 633 3rd St -302.17 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16491 City of Eureka - REVNet Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -1,210.98 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16492 City of Trinidad Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -929.49 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16493 Diamond, Nancy Sept 2023 legal services -7,505.20 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16494 Donald Dame Professional Services Sept 2023 -350.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16495 Enterprise Consolidated car rentals - out of town travel -317.59 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16496 Enterprise Tolls Kullman, 9/19/23-9/21/23 -14.70 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16497 Hilson, D. Mileage reimbursement - Sept 2023 -57.05 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16498 HireRight Background Check: new hire -104.02 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16499 Humboldt Bay Coffee Co. Office coffee -77.85 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16500 Kullmann, S. CPUC Meeting Travel reimbursement -543.50 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16501 Local Worm Guy Compost pickup - Sept 2023 917 & 633 3rd -60.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16502 Marshall, M. Sept 2023 Travel Reimburement -456.81 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16503 Mission Uniform & Linen Janitorial services -97.80 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16504 North Coast Cleaning 633 3rd St & 917 3rd St Spet 2023 -970.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16505 North Coast Unified Air Quality Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -772.90 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16506 Open Door Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -550.06 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16507 Optimum Business-633 633 3rd St: 09/28 - 10/27/2023 -1,100.51 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16508 Petty Cash Replenish petty cash for 08.01.23-09.30.23 -54.67 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16509 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at 3798 Janes Rd, Arcata site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16510 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at 72 West Coast Rd, Redway site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16511 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at Carlson Park Dr, Arcata site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16512 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at McKinleyville site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16513 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at 3334 W St, Eureka site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16514 Pierson Building Center 917 3rd St: Shelf for office -52.41 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16515 Recology 917 3rd St.: Sept 2023 garbage service -71.48 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16516 Recology 633 3rd St: Sept 2023 garbage service -105.52 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16517 Rennie, J Sept 2023 Mileage & Parking Reimbursement -217.82 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16518 Rodriguez, Louis Sept Mileage & Purchase Reimbursement -93.40 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16519 Scrapper's Edge Labels for C&V Open House -21.84 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16520 SDRMA P&L Additional Insured Cert: Wharfinger Building -47.50 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16521 St. Joseph Hospital Site Host Reimbursement 07/01- 09/30/2023 -1,331.93 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16522 Times Printing Company Contractor & Vendor Open House Postcards -161.34 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16523 Times Printing Company Power Content Label Mailer w/Postage -25,843.77 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16524 Ubeo Business Services 633 3rd St Printer Charges: 09/06-10/05/23 -329.19 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16525 Verizon Wireless Tablet/cell service- 08/29 - 08/28/2023 -1,712.25 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16526 Westside Community Center Venue Rental: Board, CAC meetings & MD/HD Fleet -1,687.50 Bill Pmt -Check 10/13/2023 16527 Frontier Energy, Inc. PA Program Consulting - August 2023 -14,472.50 Paycheck 10/13/2023 ACH Employees Payroll -86,306.97
Bill Pmt -Check 10/17/2023 WIRE Humboldt Land Title 805 3rd Street Land Purchase -266,833.24 Bill Pmt -Check 10/18/2023 16528 Humboldt Land Title 805 3rd Street Land Purchase -46.96 Check 10/20/2023 Debit Umpqua Service Charge -132.04
Check 10/26/2023 16577 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #CCE-R-230823-1529 -350.00 Check 10/26/2023 16578 California Heating Direct Install Non-RES #220927-0588 -First Methodist Church -11,000.00 Check 10/26/2023 16579 Frank's Heating & Refrigeration Direct Install Non-RES #230428-1268 - Mad River Grange -9,979.00 Check 10/26/2023 16580 An Electrician, Inc. Direct Install Non-RES #230428-1268 - Mad River Grange -2,029.68 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 ACH Keenan Anthem Medical Insurance October 2023 -32,529.55 Liability Check 10/27/2023 ACH CICCS Insurance EAP services, Invoice 2023-10 -63.24 Liability Check 10/27/2023 ACH Ascensus Paydate 10/27/23 -13,663.81 Liability Check 10/27/2023 ACH EDD Taxes, Paydate 10/27/23 -7,979.67

12 Accrual Basis Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Disbursements Report
As of October 31, 2023
Type Date Num Name Memo Amount
Liability Check 10/27/2023 ACH Internal Revenue Service Taxes, Paydate 10/27/23 -35,053.84 Liability Check 10/27/2023 ACH Newport Group Deferred compensation, Paydate 10/27/23 -12,045.45 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 ACH CA Dept. of Tax & Fee Administration Electrical Energy Surcharge Return 31-0003366 Q3 2023 -39,121.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16529 Amazon.com Monthly billing - September 2023 -6,590.62 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16530 Braun Blaising & Wynne Legal Services - Regulatory -September 2023 -4,456.24 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16531 Carter Properties, LLC 917 3rd Street Office Lease -Nov 2023 rent -2,300.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16532 Chausse-Heath, V. Board Secretary Conference Per Diem Meals -225.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16533 CSDA 2024 Membership Dues ID 26262 -1,715.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16534 Developed Employment Services, LLC. Facilities maintenance work-Yard Work 633 3rd St. -91.38 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16535 Hand Therapy Center Ergonomic evaluations for 5 employees -1,250.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16536 Humboldt Bay Coffee Co. Office Coffee-917 3rd St -17.30 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16537 Mission Uniform & Linen Oct 2023 invoices 520298764 & 520298765 -218.67 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16538 Nichols Handy Work 917 3rd Street: Window Hardware Install -187.50 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16539 NYLEX.net, Inc. Onsite network support services - Nov 2023 -3,690.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16540 Petty Cash Replenish petty cash for Oct 2023 reimbursement -9.65 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16541 PG&E CCA Sept 2023 CCE Charges -21,781.48 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16542 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at 7351 Tompkins Hill, Eureka site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16543 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at 444 Maple, Garberville site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16544 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at 1075 St. Joseph, Fortuna site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16545 PG&E Engineering Advance for EVSE at Park St., Fortuna site -3,500.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16546 PG&E Office Utility 09/06-10/05/23 utilities for 917 3rd Street -306.69 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16547 PG&E Office Utility 09/14-10/15/23 utilities for 633 3rd Street -1,050.74 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16548 Pierson Building Center Oct 2023 facilities maitenance supplies -81.48 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16549 Platt/Rexel LED Stock & Carbon Monox alarms -1,077.65 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16550 Redwood Community Radio Radio underwriting - Q2 2023/24 -780.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16551 Rennie, J Mileage Reimbursement- Oct 2023 -130.02 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16552 Scrapper's Edge Poster Board for C&V Open House -55.36 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16553 Siino,K. CALPELRA Annual Conference Per Diem Meals -141.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16554 Stitch Witch Logo gear order - 100% Balance -70.53 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16555 Times Printing Company Oct 2023: Move in mailers -1,418.97 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16556 Verbeck, E. Board Secretary Conference Per Diem Meals -225.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16557 Winzler, John Office Lease - 633 3rd St, Nov 2023 rent -7,752.50 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16558 Yakovleva, Vera A. CalCCA LegCom Meeting Per Diem Meals -173.44 Liability Check 10/27/2023 16560 HealthEquity Inc Health Savings Account, Paydate 10/27/23 -72.07 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16561 Colonial Life Colonial Life Premiums Oct 2023 -2,274.90 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16562 Ramone's Contrator & Vendor Open House-Pastries & Coffee -200.27 Check 10/27/2023 16563 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-230912-1588 -50.00 Check 10/27/2023 16564 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-231004-1647 -100.00 Check 10/27/2023 16565 CCE Customer CCE Equipment Rebate - Res #DS-R-231012-1655 -50.00 Check 10/27/2023 16566 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-231003-1640 -800.00 Check 10/27/2023 16567 CCE Customer Direct Install Non-RES #DI-NR-220413-0191 -448.08 Check 10/27/2023 16568 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230503-1290 -725.00 Check 10/27/2023 16569 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230824-1537 -1,050.00 Check 10/27/2023 16570 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-231019-1676 -900.00 Check 10/27/2023 16571 CCE Customer Heat Pump Rebate #DS-R-230703-1457 -900.00 Bill Pmt -Check 10/27/2023 16572 Nicklas, Alida M Mileage & Purchase reimbursement - October 2023 -34.06 Paycheck 10/27/2023 ACH Employees Payroll -87,787.65
TOTAL -1,857,922.52

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14 Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Profit & Loss Budget vs. Actual
July through October 2023
Jul - Oct 23 Budget % of Budget
Ordinary Income/Expense
Income
Total 4 GRANTS AND DONATIONS 250.00 0.00 100.0%
5 REVENUE EARNED
Total 5000 · Revenue - government agencies 113,975.42 10,641,170.00 1.07% Total 5100 · Revenue - program related 1,057,746.45 35,000.00 3,022.13% Total 5400 · Revenue-nongovernment agencies 292,595.40 400,000.00 73.15% Total 5500 · Revenue - Electricity Sales 26,130,415.67 98,822,720.00 26.44% Total 5 REVENUE EARNED 27,594,732.94 109,898,890.00 25.11% Total Income 27,594,982.94 109,898,890.00 25.11%
Gross Profit 27,594,982.94 109,898,890.00 25.11%
Expense
Total 6 WHOLESALE POWER SUPPLY 21,060,150.63 77,731,548.00 27.09% Total 7 PERSONNEL EXPENSES 1,448,623.43 5,434,518.00 26.66% Total 8.1 FACILITIES AND OPERATIONS 211,145.10 1,754,484.00 12.04% Total 8.2 COMMUNICATIONS AND OUTREACH 56,799.44 622,590.00 9.12%

8.4 PROFESSIONAL & PROGRAM SRVS
8400 · Regulatory 49,614.23 205,000.00 24.2%
8410 · Contracts - Program Related Ser 60,209.55 8,080,900.00 0.75% 8420 · Accounting 59,513.08 191,000.00 31.16%
8430 · Legal 62,099.80 195,000.00 31.85%
8450 · Wholesale Services - TEA 272,374.76 766,853.00 35.52% 8460 · Procurement Credit - TEA 56,651.11 635,821.00 8.91% 8470 · Data Management - Calpine 247,661.52 887,187.00 27.92% Total 8.4 PROFESSIONAL & PROGRAM SRVS 808,124.05 10,961,761.00 7.37% Total 8.5 PROGRAM EXPENSES 202,887.64 290,014.00 69.96% Total 8.6 INCENTIVES & REBATES 142,707.14 591,500.00 24.13% Total 9 NON OPERATING COSTS 31,556.66 304,500.00 10.36% Total Expense 23,961,994.09 97,690,915.00 24.53%
Net Ordinary Income 3,632,988.85 12,207,975.00 29.76%
Net Income 3,632,988.85 12,207,975.00 29.76%

15 Redwood Coast Energy Authority
Balance Sheet
As of October 31, 2023
Oct 31, 23
ASSETS
Current Assets
Checking/Savings
1010 · Petty Cash 300.00
1060 · Umpqua Checking Acct 0560 45,007.70
1071 · Umpqua Deposit Cntrol Acct 8215 15,820,387.74
1075 · Umpqua Reserve Account 2300 1,700,000.00
1076 · First Republic Bank - 4999 399,967.48
Total Checking/Savings 17,965,662.92
Total Accounts Receivable 309,587.96
Other Current Assets
1101 · Allowance for Doubtful Accounts -5,500,614.74
1103 · Accounts Receivable-Other 17,854,500.10
1120 · Inventory Asset 35,452.21
1205 · Prepaid Insurance 6,669.17
1210 · Retentions Receivable 11,323.86
1499 · Undeposited Funds 26.00
Total Other Current Assets 12,407,356.60
Total Current Assets 30,682,607.48
Total Fixed Assets 9,328,451.08
Other Assets
1700 · Security Deposits 4,153,623.26
Total Other Assets 4,153,623.26
TOTAL ASSETS 44,164,681.82

LIABILITIES & EQUITY
Liabilities
Current Liabilities
Total Accounts Payable 4,458,524.12
Total Credit Cards 9,546.16
Other Current Liabilities
2002 · Deposits Refundable 1,521,045.01
2011 · NEM Escrow Liability 145,802.73
2013 · Unearned Revenue - PA 2020-2023 89,808.97
Total 2100 · Payroll Liabilities 187,155.26
2200 · Accrued Expenses
2221 · Electrical Energy Surcharge 51,824.11
Total 2200 · Accrued Expenses 51,824.11
Total Other Current Liabilities 1,995,636.08
Total Current Liabilities 6,463,706.36
Long Term Liabilities
Total 2700 · Long-Term Debt 6,149,403.16
Total Long Term Liabilities 6,149,403.16
Total Liabilities 12,613,109.52
Equity
2320 · Investment in Capital Assets 153,263.67
3900 · Fund Balance 27,761,388.22
Net Income 3,636,920.41
Total Equity 31,551,572.30
TOTAL LIABILITIES & EQUITY 44,164,681.82

16

REVISED

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 4.4
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Eileen Verbeck, Deputy Executive Director
SUBJECT: Legal Services for Labor and Employment Matters.

BACKGROUND
RCEA has been a member of the Humboldt County Employment Relations Consortium for five years. The law firm of Liebert Cassidy Whitmore (LCW) organized these consortia to economically provide training and telephone consultations. Consortium telephone consultations cover questions that the LCW attorneys can answer quickly with little research. On occasion RCEA engages LCW on items that exceed the scope of the telephone consultation and require in-depth research, written responses, engagement from third parties or advice on on-going legal matters. In these instances, RCEA is billed directly by LCW or their third-party consultants.

SUMMARY
The RCEA Board of Directors adopted financial management policy sets the Executive Director’s spending authority at $20,000. Personnel issues come up suddenly and can require a large amount of legal time. Staff requests authorization to expend up to $40,000* for labor and employment legal services through LCW or their third-party consultants for fiscal year 2023-2024.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
The fiscal year 2033-24 budget includes $40,000 for general and administrative legal services.

Additionally, year-to-date personnel costs are slightly less than budgeted due to previously vacant positions. Staff will evaluate costs as compared to the approved legal and personnel budget items during the mid-year budget analysis and propose adjustments if needed.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Authorize an increase in the Executive Director’s spending limit to $40,000* for labor and employment matter legal services for Fiscal Year 2023-2024.

ATTACHMENTS
None.
* NOTE: This dollar amount has been corrected. The previously published amount was $30,000.
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18

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 4.5
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Stephen Kullmann, Director of Demand Side Management SUBJECT: Regulatory and Legal Services Agreement with PefferLegal

BACKGROUND
In March 2022, RCEA filed a motion to form a new Regional Energy Network (REN) on behalf of itself and six partner organizations. The Rural Regional Energy Network (RuralREN) will serve hard-to-reach and underserved customers in rural counties across the state. On July 3, 2023, the CPUC approved the formation of a RuralREN and committed more than $177 million over an eight-year period. RCEA is the program administrator for the program.

RCEA issued a competitive solicitation for legal and regulatory services to support RCEA through the stakeholder process up until the CPUC’s issuance of a decision in 2023.

RCEA received proposals from two firms and both proposals were deemed responsive to the request in its entirety. Staff further evaluated the proposals on the following criteria:
• Prior experience in providing regulatory and legal services to Regional Energy Networks and government agencies comparable to RCEA,
• Qualifications of the firm and assigned staff, as well as the quality of management support,
• Cost and fees.

Based on this solicitation the Board approved a contract with PefferLegal for RuralREN regulatory support and legal services through December 2023.

SUMMARY
The RuralREN was formally approved and funded by the CPUC on July 3, 2023, with the specific requirement that the CPUC re-evaluate the RuralREN budget for years 2028-2031 during the review of the next portfolio application expected in 2026. RCEA will need on-going legal assistance with this regulatory process.
19

RCEA executed an attorney-client representation agreement with PefferLegal on November 2, 2022, which is set to expire on January 1, 2024. PefferLegal has demonstrated expertise, knowledge and background to provide the needed legal assistance to RCEA in its RuralREN implementation.

RCEA staff recommend renewing the agreement with PefferLegal through the completion of the next RuralREN portfolio application with Amendment No. 1 to the original agreement. The amendment will be effective January 1, 2024, and run through December 31, 2026, or CPUC approval of the RuralREN portfolio application for years 2028-2031, whichever is later.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Not applicable.

EQUITY IMPACTS
Not applicable.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
The hourly rates included in the PefferLegal amendment are $340 per hour. Based on estimated legal and regulatory services needed, the not-to-exceed value of the contract will be $100,000 per year. RCEA’s current fiscal year budget for legal services, the budget line item these services will be billed to, is $155,000 and spending through October is at about $62,099. Staff anticipates that the proposed budget line item for the 2024-25 fiscal year will accommodate the cost of legal services through the CPUC’s 2023 decision.

The total proposed four-year RuralREN budget includes a budget specifically for RCEA to cover administration costs separate from the amount to provide services to RCEA customers.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Executive Director to execute Amendment No. 1 to Legal Services Agreement with PefferLegal for RuralREN regulatory support and legal services through December 2026 for a not to exceed value of $100,000 per year, subject to sufficient budgetary allocations.

ATTACHMENTS

1. Amendment No. 1 to Attorney-Client Representation Letter Law Office of David Peffer 20 AMENDMENT No. 1 TO PEFFER-RCEA Page 1 of 2

LEGAL REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT
AMENDMENT No. 1

TO ATTORNEY-CLIENT REPRESENTATION LETTER

LAW OFFICE OF DAVID PEFFER
This is an amendment (“Amendment”) to that certain Agreement by and between the Law Office of David Peffer (“Attorney” or “PefferLegal”) and Redwood Coast Energy Authority (“Client”), entitled Attorney-Client Representation Agreement, dated November 2, 2022 (“Agreement”). This Amendment is effective on January 1, 2024.

RECITALS
WHEREAS, under the terms of the Agreement, PefferLegal provides legal advice and representation to RCEA regarding RuralREN;
WHEREAS, the Agreement expires on December 31, 2023;
WHEREAS, RuralREN was formally approved and funded by the CPUC on July 3, 2023, with the specific requirement that the CPUC re-evaluate the RuraREN budget for years 2028-2031 during the review of the next portfolio application expected in 2026; WHEREAS, Consultant has the demonstrated expertise, knowledge and background to provide continued legal assistance to RCEA in its implementation of RuralREN and the Parties seek to renew the Agreement through completion of the next RuralREN portfolio application on the terms below.

NOW THEREFORE, in consideration of the mutual covenants, conditions and terms recited herein and made a material part hereof, the parties agree as follows:

1. Duration. Section 2 of the Agreement, Duration, is hereby replaced in its entirety as follows:
“2. DURATION
Provided that this Agreement is duly executed by both parties, this Agreement will be effective beginning on January 1, 2024. The Agreement will run through December 31, 2026, or CPUC approval of the RuralREN portfolio application for years 2028- 2031, whichever is later. The Agreement may be extended through the execution of a signed amendment or new agreement by both parties.”

2. Legal Fees and Billing Practices. Section 5 of the Agreement, Legal Fees and Billing Practices, is hereby replaced in its entirety as follows:
“5. LEGAL FEES AND BILLING PRACTICES
Client agrees to pay by the hour at PefferLegal’s rate for all time spent on Client’s matter by PefferLegal. PefferLegal’s attorney rates are:
21 AMENDMENT No. 1 TO PEFFER-RCEA Page 2 of 2

LEGAL REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT
David Peffer $340 /hour
The rates on this schedule shall be fixed for the duration of this contract unless the rate is changed through an amendment to this agreement executed by PefferLegal and Client. The time charged will include, but is not limited to, the time PefferLegal attorneys spend on telephone calls, e-mails and other electronic communications relating to Client’s matter, including calls and e-mails with Client, regulators, other parties’ counsel, or other persons. Time is billed in minimum increments one-tenth (.1) of an hour. PefferLegal will charge for travel time at 50% of standard rate.”

3. Do Not Exceed Amount. Section 7 of the Agreement, Do Not Exceed Amount, is hereby replaced in its entirety as follows:
“7. DO NOT EXCEED AMOUNT
PefferLegal’s total annual billings under this contract will not exceed $100,000. This cap may be modified through the execution of an amendment to this contract by both parties.”

4. Ratification of Agreement. The terms and conditions of the Agreement, including all exhibits and attachments, are ratified in their entirety except to the extent inconsistent with the terms and provisions of this Amendment. In the event of such inconsistency, this Amendment shall control.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, the parties have executed this Amendment No.1 effective as of the date above.

DATED: REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY

By:

DATED: PEFFERLEGAL

By:
22

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 4.6
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Juliette Bohn, Infrastructure Programs Manager Lexie Perez, Grants and Contracts Manager
SUBJECT: City of Arcata funding contribution to the RCEA E-Bike Voucher program Background
Infrastructure Planning staff are ready to launch an E-Bike Voucher program for RCEA customers in-step with the California E-Bike Voucher Program which is expected in early 2024.

Summary
In July 2023 staff provided a presentation on the forthcoming E-Bike Voucher program to the City of Arcata Energy Committee following a presentation by City Engineer Netra Khatri on the City’s efforts to decarbonize transportation. In the following months, City staff reached out to RCEA to discuss possible use of unspent grant funds to bolster existing RCEA programs that work towards shared goals.

As a result of these discussions, the City of Arcata has offered to fund $20,000 of E-Bike Vouchers for Arcata residents through RCEA’s program.

RCEA staff will be responsible for verifying and tracking the Arcata vouchers and will provide the City with a monthly report of total funds expended. At the end of the program period, RCEA will return any unspent funds to the City.

Staff estimates that $20,000 will provide for between 34 and 61 E-Bikes, depending on the type of E-Bike voucher category.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA STRATEGIC PLAN
RePower Plan Strategy 3.1 Reduce Vehicle Miles Traveled. This combined effort to support the purchase and use of E-Bikes as a form of micro-mobility is aligned with the goals of decarbonizing regional transportation through efforts to reduce vehicle miles traveled as well as the goal to “work with other local public entities to reduce vehicle miles traveled in Humboldt County by at least 25% by 2030.”
23

EQUITY IMPACTS
E-Bikes are a viable form of micro-mobility for local transportation needs with a lower cost of ownership than a vehicle. Because these funds will be funneled through RCEA’s E-Bike Voucher program and subject to the same terms and conditions, 75% of the funds will be reserved for City of Arcata residents who are Income Qualified or require an Adaptive E-Bike.

FINANCIAL IMPACT
The terms of the funding agreement require RCEA staff to track the City of Arcata program applicants separately and report on the use of the funds to the City. These activities will likely require minimal additional personnel time as staff will already be collecting data and reporting out on the overall program metrics. The current budget includes $61,500 for E-Bike vouchers; the additional $20,000 would increase program funding to $81,500 for fiscal year 2023-2024.

STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Authorize the Executive Director to execute the $20,000 E-Bike Voucher Funding Agreement with the City of Arcata.

ATTACHMENTS

1. E-Bike Voucher Funding Agreement between RCEA and the City of Arcata 24 City Manager
707-822-5953
Environmental Services
707-822-8184
Police
707-822-2428
Recreation
707-822-7091
Community Development
707-822-5955
Finance
707-822-5951
Engineering
707-825-2128
Transportation
707-822-3775
736 F Street
Arcata CA 95521
Redwood Coast Energy Authority
633 3rd Street
Eureka, CA 95501
Subject: E-Bike Voucher Funding Agreement between RCEA and the City of Arcata Dear RCEA Board of Directors,
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) is supporting micro-mobility and low-carbon transportation in Humboldt County through its E-Bike Voucher Program. This Program is based on point-of-sale vouchers issued to RCEA customers residing in Humboldt County to be redeemed at Participating E-Bike Retailers (e.g., local brick-and-mortar bike shops). This Program is launching in conjunction with the California Air Resources Board (CARB) E-Bike Incentive Project to maximize the incentive amount available to Humboldt County customers when purchasing an E-Bike.

The RCEA E-Bike Voucher program requires purchase from a local brick-and-mortar bike shop to ensure that E-Bikes sold under this program are of high quality and can be locally maintained and repaired.

Participating bike shops will provide fully assembled E-Bikes as well as assistance with proper sizing, model selection, and training on E-Bike operations and safe battery charging. Eligible E-Bikes include standard commuter-style, cargo-style, and Adaptive E-bikes such as tricycles and hand-pedaled models.

All eligible E-Bikes are required to have UL listed batteries. Safety equipment such as helmets, gloves, and vests as well as bike locks are also eligible purchases under the RCEA E-Bike Voucher program.

The City of Arcata will commit to contribute $20,000 to the RCEA E-Bike Voucher program to fund E-Bike Vouchers for Arcata residents. These funds are made available under funds issued to the City under the American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA). RCEA will only allocate these funds to RCEA E-Bike vouchers redeemed by City of Arcata residents. RCEA staff will verify residency in the City of Arcata based on the site address associated with their electric utility account. If any unspent funds remain when the RCEA E-Bike Voucher Program sunsets, or by June 2025 (whichever occurs sooner), the unspent portion of this funding will be returned to the City of Arcata.

In accordance with the structure of the RCEA E-Bike Voucher program, 75% of these funds will support E-Bike purchases for eligible City of Arcata Income Qualified residents and residents who require an Adaptive E-Bike. The remaining 25% will be available to all eligible City of Arcata residents. The total number of Vouchers issued will depend on the type of E-Bike selected and the voucher category they qualify for. Estimated total number of Vouchers issued with the City of Arcata funds will likely range between 34 and 61 E-Bikes (see table below for details). 25 Qualified residents are eligible for the following RCEA vouchers:
$150 Standard E-Bike Voucher available to all RCEA CCE customers $350 Cargo E-Bike Voucher available to all RCEA CCE customers $500 Standard E-Bike Voucher available to Income Qualified RCEA CCE customers $700 Cargo E-Bike Voucher available to Income Qualified RCEA CCE customers $1,000 Adaptive E-Bike Voucher available to all RCEA CCE customers RCEA roles and responsibilities associated with administering and implementing the E-Bike Voucher Program include:
• Maintaining agreements with Participating E-Bike Retailers in Humboldt County • Continuing engagement with the local brick and mortar bike shops • Answering questions from the public
• Maintaining program information such as income qualifications • Receiving and processing E-Bike Voucher applications
• Issuing Vouchers
• Issuing reimbursements to participating bike shops for redeemed E-Bike Vouchers • Tracking issued and redeemed E-Bike Vouchers by type
• Monitoring expenditure of program funds
• Tracking City of Arcata E-Bike Vouchers separately from the main RCEA program • Quarterly reporting to the City of Arcata that includes the number of E-Bike Vouchers redeemed, how much of the total funds have been expended, and which category of E-Bikes were purchased, until the City of Arcata funding is exhausted.

To acknowledge acceptance of this funding and the associated conditions listed above please return a signed and dated copy of this letter.

Sincerely,

CITY OF ARCATA REDWOOD COAST ENERGY AUTHORITY
Karen Diemer Eileen Verbeck
City Manager Acting Executive Director
Date: _________________ Date: _________________
Estimated Total # E-Bike Vouchers issued using City of Arcata funding Standard E-Bikes for All eligible customers +
Standard E-Bikes for all eligible Income Qualified +
2 Adaptive E-Bikes
Cargo E-Bikes for All eligible Customers +
Cargo E-Bikes for all eligible Income Qualified +
2 Adaptive E-Bikes
61 34
26

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 7.1
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Sally Regli, Account Services Manager
SUBJECT: January 2024 Rate Update

SUMMARY
The CPUC approved PG&E’s annual rate change for transmission and distribution (T&D) as well as generation rate increases. Both will be implemented on January 1, 2024. RCEA will adjust generation rates in January after PG&E implements its rate adjustment. The Board approved an RCEA discount in March 2021 of 0.5% below PG&E’s generation rate. This discount will not change with the January 2024 rates. Staff will update the Board in more detail on these rate increases at this meeting.

PG&E recovers costs and return on investments via two proceedings:

1. The General Rate Case (GRC) which is associated with capital expenses and T&D.

This makes up the majority of the customer’s bundled rate.

2. The Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA), associated with power purchase costs that set generation charges.

Both proceedings will impact January 2024 rates, as well as minor changes to non-bypassable charges for programs that benefit the public in general.

Attachment 1 summarizes the coming bill impacts.

FINANCIAL IMPACTS
Staff will present financial impacts at the Board meeting.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
Not applicable.

EQUITY IMPACTS
The January 2024 rate increase will disproportionately burden lower-income customers. Low-income customers can typically qualify for PG&E’s CARE and FERA programs which provide discounts on electric and gas charges.
27

RECOMMENDED ACTIONS
None. Information only.

ATTACHMENTS
1) PG&E Summary of Residential Rate Impacts for January 2024 2) PG&E FAQ
28 Atachment 1
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30 FAQ: PG&E General Rate Case (GRC) 2023-2026

1. What is a General Rate Case?
A General Rate Case, or GRC, is a review that investor-owned utilities (IOUs) regulated by the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) undergo every four years. During this review, utilities present a four-year budget so they can obtain the revenue they need to provide for both their operating costs and their profits through the rates they charge customers.

2. When was PG&E's GRC approved?
The CPUC approved PG&E's budget for 2023-2026 on November 16, 2023.

3. What is PG&E's approved budget?
PG&E's approved budget for 2023 is $13.5 billion, up from the 2022 authorized amount of $12.2 billion. The budget will increase each year through 2026, when the annual total is about $14.7 billion.

4. Now that PG&E’s budget is approved, will customers see rate increases on their energy bills? Yes, rates will increase for all PG&E customers, including those that receive electricity generation services from CCAs.

5. How much will the typical residential customer's bill increase? The typical residential customer's bill will increase by $32.62 or 12.8% in 2024. This is for both electricity and gas combined. Note that the impact on your bill will vary depending on your usage, what part of the state you live in, and other programs in which you choose to enroll. See table below for illustrative rate impacts for both electricity and gas customers.

PG&E Bill Impacts
Electric-only
Customers
Natural Gas-only
Customers Electric and Gas Customers
Average residential customer
bill increase +$22.20 +$10.43 +$32.62 or an increase of 12.8% Average residential CARE
customer bill increase +$14.43 +$7.23 +$21.66 or an increase of 13.1% Source: https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/-/media/cpuc-website/industries-and-topics/documents/pge/grcs/updatedfaq-pge-grc-111323.pdf.

6. When will the rate increases take effect?
The new rates will take effect on January 1, 2024. Customers may see the change in their bill in February depending on their billing cycle.

7. Why does PG&E want to increase rates, and what are the main drivers? PG&E asserts it needs to make several changes to ensure the safety and reliability of its energy services. The top drivers of PG&E’s rate increases are inflation and significant investments in undergrounding electric lines to decrease wildfire risk.

8. Are CCA customers impacted?
Yes, CCA customers are impacted because they receive transmission, distribution and other services from PG&E. CCA and non-CCA customers in PG&E’s territory are impacted equally. It’s important to note that the bill increases are for PG&E’s services only, not the electricity services CCAs provide.

9. Are CCA charges affected by PG&E's rate increase?
No, CCA electricity costs are separate from the amount billed by PG&E.

10. Why is there opposition to PG&E's rate increases?
Ratepayer advocacy groups, including The Utility Reform Network (TURN), opposed the rate increase, deeming it excessive. They urged support for a less expensive alternative. California CCAs also protested aspects of PG&E’s budget request.

Attachment 2
31 11. How can I express an opinion about the PG&E GRC? Members of the public can still submit comments to the CPUC through the "Public Comments" tab here.

12. I’ve heard the PG&E rate increases are based on how much money customers earn. Is this true? There is a different proposal before the CPUC, separate from the GRC, where some PG&E customers would pay a fixed charge on their monthly bills based on household income. This is known as the income graduate fixed charge (IGFC) proposal.

13. How much will I pay per month under the income graduate fixed charge proposal? The charge will vary based on income. PG&E estimates the following bill impacts:
• Low-income customers can expect to pay $15-$30
• Moderate-income customers would pay about $51
• Higher income customers would pay about $92
Source: https://pgesupport.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/articles/14862277639565-How-much-will-I-pay-under-the-income-graduate-fixed-charge-proposal-14. When would I see the IGFC charges on my bill? The CPUC plans to authorize the IGFC by July 1, 2024. The charges will appear on your PG&E bill as soon as 2026. The Commission has yet to decide the precise timing.

15. Where did the idea for the new income-based charges come from? The California Legislature passed a bill, AB 205, that directed the CPUC to authorize an IGFC, so that low-income customers would save on their monthly bills without changing consumption.

16. How can I express an opinion about the addition of new income-based charges? Members of the public can weigh in on the IGFC proposal through the CPUC’s "Public Comments" tab here.

17. I can’t afford all these rate increases! What can I do to reduce my energy bill? There are many steps you can take to try to reduce your energy costs. First, find out if you are eligible for California’s main bill discount programs, California Alternate Rates for Energy (CARE) and Family Electric Rate Assistance Program (FERA), which provide 30-35 percent discounts on rates. 32 18
Presentation to the RCEA Board of Directors
January 2024 Rate Change
December 21, 2023
• Rate Making Overview
• 2024 Rate Change
• Affordability
• RCEA Rate Setting Process
• Other rate related updates
• Resources for customers
Outline
Rate Making Overview
General Rate Case (GRC):
• CPUC proceeding every four years
• Sets Transmission and Distribution (T&D) charges
• In-depth look at the IOU’s revenues and expenses
• Rate of return approval
• GRC electric true-up each year
Energy Resource Recovery Account (ERRA):
• CPUC proceeding every year
• Sets Generation and Power Charge Indifference Adjustment (PCIA) rates • Recovery of fuel costs to produce electricity from IOU-owned plants and cost of buying energy from third parties
The majority percentage of the 2024
rate increase is attributable to
Transmission & Distribution (T&D).

The Generation percentage of the
increase is about 45% until July 2024
then drops to 25% for the remainder
of the year, due to the end of the
ERRA trigger cost recovery.

Transmission/
Distribution &
Other
Generation
Residential average 18.2% increase
Source: Residential Electric Rate and Bill Impacts of Rate Changes Sought in AL 7066-E, pg. 42 https://www.pge.com/tariffs/assets/pdf/adviceletter/ELEC_7066-E.pdf January 2024 Rate Change
Drivers of the
2024 PG&E
GRC rate
increase
T&D related:
• Wildfire risk mitigation-undergrounding powerlines and overhead covered conductors.
• Public Safety Power Shutoff
(PSPS) planning.
• Vegetation management to
reduce wildfire risk.

Drivers of the
2024 PG&E
GRC rate
increase (cont.)

T&D related:
• CO2 reduction - retirement of gas
pipelines where electrification is both
cheaper and environmentally better.
• Upgrading grid capacity for enhanced
building electrification, and new
interconnections for new construction
and electric vehicle charging stations.

Source:
https://www.pge.com/en/regulation/general-rate-case.html Drivers of the

PG&E ERRA
2024 rate
increase
Generation related:
• Unusually high market price volatility last
winter which caused electricity costs to be
much higher than expected.
• Customer electricity demand has been much
lower than expected so less revenue was
collected to recover generation costs.

Source:
https://www.pge.com/content/dam/pge/docs/account/billing-and-assistance/bill-inserts/0923-ERRA.pdf January 2024
Rate Increase
by Class*
Source: LGSEC 11/30 meeting slides
Affordability
Affordability Hearings are held to gather comments from public and stakeholders. Many comments focused on:
• Unaffordability*
• Poor maintenance history
• Lack of transparency
https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/news-and-updates/all-news/cpuc-to-hold-hearing-on-affordability-of-essential-utility-services-2022 *Customers can expect to spend between 11.3% and 24% of their disposable income on utilities based on PG&E’s suggested increases.

RCEA Rate Setting Process
• RCEA’s discount percentage to PG&E rates is
adopted by the Board of Directors.
• RCEA monitors PG&E ERRA filings and processes
RCEA generation rate changes once PG&E
generation rate changes are approved by the CPUC.
• RCEA rates are posted on the RCEA website.
• A rate comparison between PG&E and RCEA is
posted on the PG&E website following rate changes
and sent to customers each year.
• RCEA estimates expected PG&E rate increases and
incorporates them into our budget. The 2024 rate
increases will be evaluated during the mid year
budget review. 27
Other Rate
Related
Updates
• Net Billing Tariff is active but the billing
operations have been approved to begin in
April 2024. Interim billing with NEM schedule
will be applied until then.
• Income Fixed Charge is slated for
implementation in July 2024. It will take the
place of some of the current fixed PG&E
transmission and distribution charges. This
methodology:
 unbundles costs from volumetric rates
and shifts a portion of those costs into a
separate fixed charge and
 imposes the fixed charge on the basis of
income.

Business Rate
Change
Campaign
Business customers that PG&E
has identified as benefiting
from a rate schedule change
are receiving an Interactive
Voice Response message.

Targeted businesses are
expected to have a rate
savings between $500-$5000.

Resources
for
Customers
RCEA Website Financial Assistance Page and energy saving tips https://redwoodenergy.org/financial-assistance/
CPUC Website –Proceeding Information and Public comment access https://www.cpuc.ca.gov/industries-and-topics/electrical-energy/electric-rates/general-rate-case PG&E Bill Financial Assistance information
https://www.pge.com/en/account/billing-and-assistance/financial-assistance.html Humboldt 211 https://211humboldt.org/

THANK YOU
Questions?
Presentation Title 31

STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 7.2
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
PREPARED BY: Dana Boudreau, Director of Infrastructure Planning and Operations SUBJECT: Presentation of regional MD/HD Blueprint

BACKGROUND
In September 2021 RCEA was awarded funding by the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop a “North Coast Medium- and Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle (MD/HD ZEV) Infrastructure Readiness Plan” to guide electric vehicle (EV) charging and hydrogen refueling infrastructure deployment and other supporting activities that will facilitate the increased adoption of medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles. This grant was approved by the Board in October 2021. Staff completed all major deliverables to the CEC this month and will ramp down grant activities through Q1 2024.

SUMMARY
RCEA Infrastructure Programs Senior Manager Mike Avcollie will provide an overview of the North Coast Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty ZEV Blueprint Plan.

ALIGNMENT WITH RCEA’S STRATEGIC PLAN
• 3.2.2 Promote Advanced Fuels.
• 3.2.3 Support Electric Vehicle Adoption.
• 3.3.1 Develop Transportation Electrification Infrastructure.

EQUITY IMPACTS
Not applicable.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
None. (Information only.)

ATTACHMENTS

1. North Coast Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty ZEV Blueprint Plan. 33 Regional MD/HD Blueprint Update
RCEA Board Meeting
December 2023
Redwood Coast Energy Authority
RePower Key Strategy: Transportation
• 6,000 electric vehicles in Humboldt County by 2025
and 22,000 vehicles by 2030.
• Develop public, workplace, and residential electric vehicle charging infrastructure necessary to support electric vehicle targets. • Work with other local public entities to reduce
vehicle miles traveled in Humboldt County by
at least 25% by 2030.
• By 2030 reduce greenhouse gas emission
from transportation by over 65%.
• Maintain trajectory of emissions reduction
to eliminate the use of fossil fuels by 2050.

Cumulative: 2,079
CEC Regional MD/HD Blueprint
• RCEA received a planning grant from the
CEC to develop a “blueprint” to identify
actions and milestones needed for
transition to medium- and heavy-duty
(MD/HD) Zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs)
and related electric charging and/or
hydrogen refueling infrastructure.
• Del Norte, Humboldt, and
Trinity Counties
• Blueprint complete 11/23/23
• Final report complete 12/8/23
Outline of Work
• Need for blueprint
• Projected infrastructure requirements
• Infrastructure placement
• Early placement opportunities
• Barriers and potential actions
• Emphasis on government support
Figure 5: Vehicle classes defined as MD/HD for this study (adapted from U.S.

Department of Energy/Oak Ridge National Laboratory)
Need for Blueprint
• Ambitious state and local goals to reduce GHG emissions • Transportation sector about half of regional emissions • MD/HD roughly half of transportation emissions
• Zero-emission vehicles need advanced fueling infrastructure • Some electrical capacity, but we need more
• Hydrogen options need to be explored
In 2015 Humboldt generated carbon dioxide
equal to a year’s worth of carbon sequestration
in 2 million acres of forest.

Trinity County is 2 million acres in size.

Main Findings

1. GHG emissions from transportation are higher in rural areas when compared to the State of California as a whole.
• 53.2 % in Humboldt County compared to 36.8% in California as a whole Main Findings

2. The State’s ambitious goals and mandates for widespread ZEV adoption will accelerate the transition to ZEVs in the MD/HD sector Main Findings

3. These mandates will require a large-scale conversion of the MD/HD fleet to ZEVs and will lead to nearly 100% conversion by 2045. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
ZEV %
Year
Humboldt County MD/HD ZEV Adoption Forecast
ZEV sales % of total sales ZEVs % of fleet

MD/HD ADOPTION GOALS FOR
THE STUDY REGION:
100% ZEV VEHICLE SALES BY
2036
100% ZEV MD/HD FLEET BY
2045
14,066 VEHICLES IN

HUMBOLDT
2,481 VEHICLES IN DEL NORTE
2,220 VEHICLES IN TRINITY
Main Findings

4. The conversion of the MD/HD fleet will require a massive increase in the use of electricity and hydrogen as transportation fuels.

Main Findings

5. The Transition to ZEVs Will Lead to Increased Need for EV Charging and Hydrogen Fueling Infrastructure
• (8) 1000 kg/day H2 Stations and Up to 9,000 EV Charging Ports Main Findings

6. Significant Barriers to MD/HD ZEV Adoption Remain
• Permitting for ZEV fueling infrastructure
• Workforce development to:
• Build and maintain ZEV fueling infrastructure
• Operate and maintain vehicle fleets
• Utility collaboration for electrical upgrades and new facilities • Fleet operator concerns around cost and logistics
• Vehicle Availability
• Vehicle Cost
• Vehicle Range Limitations
• Availability of Charging and Fueling Infrastructure
• Vehicle Maintenance
Early Placement Opportunities
• Arcata Transit Center
• Eureka City Schools
• City of Rio Dell
Early Placement Opportunities
• Humboldt Transit Authority
Actions to Accelerate Adoption
• Permitting
• Workforce Development
• Infrastructure Siting and Placement
• Utility Collaboration
• Total Cost of Ownership
• Market Acceptance
• General Market Initiatives
• Secure funding to provide technical assistance for fleet analysis and infrastructure plans.

Next Steps
• Staff will use remaining MD/HD funds to:
• Inform local stakeholders of Blueprint results and to explore opportunities
• Increase our survey response rate to improve data
• Pursue implementation funds:
• With Blueprint we are now eligible for implementation funding • Our Blueprint timeline missed round one of implementation funding • Staff will work with CEC to prepare for round 2
Rural Communities: a State Priority
• Transportation systems are interconnected
• Rural areas essential to intrastate and interstate connectivity • Economics dictate state investment to achieve broad societal goals • Key take-away: RCEA staff will continue rural region advocacy as part of strategic planning and engagement
Roads and fueling infrastructure in underserved,
hard-to-reach communities require state funding to
manage increasing risks and ensure reliable commerce
North Coast
Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty
ZEV Blueprint Plan
November 2023
34 The California Energy Commission provided the funding for this project through its Clean Transportation Program, formerly known as the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program, which issued solicitation PON-10-602 to provide funding opportunities for California’s diverse regions to develop regional “blueprints” for implementation of medium-and heavy-duty Zero-Emission vehicles and related electric charging and/or hydrogen refueling infrastructure.

PROJECT TEAM
The Redwood Coast Energy Authority was formed in 2003 to develop and implement sustainable energy initiatives that reduce energy demand, increase energy efficiency, and advance the use of clean, efficient, and renewable resources available in the region. The Energy Authority is a local government joint powers agency representing the County of Humboldt, the Cities of Eureka, Arcata, Fortuna, Rio Dell, Blue Lake, Ferndale, and Trinidad, and the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District.

The Schatz Energy Research Center at Cal Poly Humboldt was founded in 1989 with a mission to promote the use of clean and renewable energy resources. Over the years, SERC has been involved in extensive research, planning, design, and analysis activities for the development and implementation of
sustainable energy systems on the North Coast.
35 TABLE OF CONTENTS
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................1 PROJECT GOALS ...........................................................................3 Background ..............................................................................3 Need for a Blueprint ................................................................4 Meeting the Mandates ..........................................................14 Projected Charging/Fueling Infrastructure ............................26 Where to Place Fueling Infrastructure...................................29 EARLY-ADOPTER PLACEMENT....................................................38 BARRIERS TO ZEV ADOPTION.....................................................44 Permitting ..............................................................................44 Workforce Development .......................................................48 Utility Collaboration...............................................................53 Fleet Operator Concerns........................................................57 ACTIONS TO ACCELERATE ZEV ADOPTION.................................61 CLOSING THOUGHT....................................................................68 GLOSSARY...................................................................................69

DISCLAIMER
This report was prepared as the result of work sponsored by the California Energy Commission. It does not necessarily represent the views of the Energy Commission, its employees, or the State of California. The Energy Commission, the State of California, its employees, contractors, and subcontractors make no warranty, express or implied, and assume no legal liability for the information in this report; nor does any party represent that the uses of this information will not infringe upon privately owned rights. This report has not been approved or disapproved by the California Energy Commission, nor has the California Energy Commission passed upon the accuracy or adequacy of the information in this report.
36 37
North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 1 Executive Summary
Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) and Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC), with funding from the California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Clean Transportation Program (CTP), produced this Blueprint to assess the North Coast Region’s readiness to deploy medium duty/heavy duty zero-emission vehicles (MD/HD ZEVs). The study region is Del Norte, Trinity, and Humboldt Counties, with a specific focus on Humboldt as a regional economic center.

Vehicle types assessed are battery electric and fuel cell electric vehicles (BEV and FCEV).

The need for a Blueprint arises in response to the State of California’s ambitious goals to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emission from the transportation sector. Those emissions are characterized as Scope 1 (produced by sources within community boundaries) and Scope 2 (produced outside of community boundaries, but still benefitting the community).

Based on data analyzed in this report, the transportation sector in Humboldt County represents

53.2% of total GHG emissions compared with 38% statewide. We expect that this elevated rate of GHG emissions attributed to the transportation sector also holds true in Trinity and Del Norte Counties. Emissions from MD/HD vehicles making up approximately half of these emissions.

To accelerate reduction in GHG emissions the state of California, through the California Air Resources Board (CARB), set targets to reduce greenhouse gases below 1990 levels with a goal of net-zero emissions by 2045. To achieve this CARB has adopted a series of regulatory mandates that will require widespread adoption of Zero-Emission technologies in the transportation sector between now and 2045.

SERC and RCEA conducted quantitative analysis to assess what is needed to meet the mandates within the study region. SERC calculated that the total MD/HD vehicle quantity in the study region approached 19,000 vehicles. This figure, along with RCEA surveys, was used to assess a 15-year timeline for ZEV adoption. Assuming 50% BEVs and 50% FCEVs would lead to an estimated 13% increase in Humboldt County’s total electric load; 4.7% and 24% for Del Norte and Trinity respectively, to cover BEV charging needs. This figure also resulted in an estimated

THE TRANSPORTATION SECTOR IN THE

STUDY REGION REPRESENTS ROUGHLY
53% OF TOTAL GREENHOUSE GAS
EMISSIONS, COMPARED WITH 38%
STATEWIDE.

ESTIMATED NUMBER OF MD/HD
VEHICLES IN THE STUDY REGION:
~19,000
38 2 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint annual quantity of 6,612 metric tons of hydrogen/year in Humboldt County, and 626 metric tons and 2402 metric tons in Del Norte and Trinity respectively, to meet FCEV fueling requirements.

To accommodate the nearly 19,000 vehicles in need of ZEV replacement, the infrastructure needed for EV charging stations alone would be 18,000 charging ports, assuming overnight charging by fleet operators. If we consider a 50% FCEV scenario, this number is cut and in half, and to accommodate FCEV fueling, the study region would need 8 small (1000kg/day) and 5 large (5,000kg/day) stations, distributed through the region, to be refueled by 7 hydrogen tanker trucks daily.

Placement of these ZEV refueling stations varies based on fuel type. For FCEVs, size of population center and proximity to other population center decides the location and size of the hydrogen fuel stations. For instance, despite being small population centers comparatively to Eureka, Arcata, and McKinleyville, we find that Crescent City, Weaverville, and Garberville will require large hydrogen stations to account for longer distances between stations.

This Blueprint also discusses significant barriers to achieving these goals including permitting obstacles, workforce development needs, constraints on the electric utility’s transmission and distribution system, fleet operator concerns, and cost barriers.

We conclude the Blueprint with potential resources to address barriers to ZEV adoption and proposed regional actions to accelerate ZEV adoption. Our region will need to embrace change and shifting economic conditions to successfully meet the goals of GHG emission reductions from the transportation sector.

This Blueprint edition is a first step as we begin the transition of the MD/HD market sector, and it will need to be a living document to expand and grow in parallel with the ZEV landscape and marketplace.

ESTIMATED FUEL VOLUMES TO SUPPORT
MD/HD ZEV TRANSITION:

COUNTY INCREASED

ELECTRIC USE
(UP TO)

HYDROGEN
(METRIC

TONS/YR)
DEL NORTE 4.7% 626
HUMBOLDT 13% 6,612
TRINITY 24% 2,402
39 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 3 ProjectGoals

BACKGROUND
Assembly Bill 118 created the Clean Transportation Program, formerly known as the Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program. The statute authorizes the California Energy Commission (CEC) to develop and deploy alternative and renewable fuels and advanced transportation technologies to help attain the state’s climate change policies. Assembly Bill 8 reauthorizes the Clean Transportation Program through January 1, 2024, and specifies that the CEC allocate up to $20 million per year (or up to 20 percent of each fiscal year’s funds) in funding for hydrogen station development until at least 100 stations are operational. Other legislative efforts are in process and reinforce the state’s commitment to electric and hydrogen based fueling infrastructure in the next decade and beyond.

The Clean Transportation Program has an annual budget of about $100 million and provides financial support for projects that:
• Increase the use of alternative and renewable fuels and advanced vehicle technologies. • Produce sustainable renewable low-carbon fuels and construct related infrastructure. • Improve the market viability of existing and new light-, medium-, and heavy-duty vehicle technologies.
• Expand the alternative fueling infrastructure available to existing fleets, public transit, and transportation corridors.
• Establish workforce-training programs and conduct public outreach on the benefits of alternative transportation fuels and vehicle technologies.

The funding for this North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero-Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint comes from the Clean Transportation Program and was awarded to RCEA in November of 2021.
40 4 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint

NEED FOR A BLUEPRINT
The aim of this readiness plan is to prepare the North Coast region (Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte Counties), especially in terms of charging and fueling infrastructure, for the deployment of medium-duty and heavy-duty (MD/HD) 100% Zero-Emission vehicles (ZEV). It is anticipated that the MD/HD ZEV fleet will be a mix of battery electric vehicles (BEVs) and fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs) that run on clean, renewable hydrogen fuel. Three main driving factors behind the need for a North Coast MD/HD ZEV Readiness Blueprint are:
1) A growing awareness of the need to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from the transportation sector.
2) The need on the part of MD/HD fleet owners and operators to comply with the regulatory mandates from California state agencies like the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
3) A proactive and coordinated effort to regionally address complexities such as availability, cost competitiveness, infrastructure, policy support, and operator awareness and training.

This Blueprint covers Del Norte, Trinity, and Humboldt counties, which is the same territory regulated by the North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District. Humboldt County has access to more resources (data, financial, human capacity, expertise, and so on) than Del Norte and Trinity, and as a result is able to generate more data and analyses. These data and the results of these analyses can serve as a proxy for the neighboring counties, and to some degree that is the approach taken in this study though specific analyses were conducted for Del Norte and Trinity counties as well.

This Blueprint is a summary document, and in late 2023 a complementary reference document (“Final Report”)1 will be available with supporting data and discussion. 1 RCEA’s Final Report can be found at: https://redwoodenergy.org/medium-duty-heavy-duty-planning-documents/ 41 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 5 GHG Emissions from Transportation
The best local source of GHG emission data is the 2022 Humboldt County Regional Climate Action Plan (CAP). As part of developing Humboldt County’s CAP, RCEA inventoried local emissions in the past, present and future. Similar resources are unavailable for Del Norte and Trinity counties.

There are two categories of emissions captured in Humboldt County’s GHG inventories:
1) Scope 1 emissions: GHG emissions produced by sources located within the community boundary. For example, transportation is an emissions source since GHGs from vehicle use are produced within the community boundary. For this CAP, the community boundary is the entirety of Humboldt County.
2) Scope 2 emissions: GHG emissions resulting from community activities. For example, emissions from power plants that provide electricity to local homes and businesses are included, even though many of the power plants are located outside of the county.

In 2015, sources and activities in Humboldt County generated the equivalent of 1.5 million tons of carbon dioxide. This compares to a single car driving four billion miles, or roughly a year’s worth of carbon sequestration in two million acres of U.S. forests. The 2015 countywide inventory reveals four sectors responsible for the vast majority (83%) of emissions in the region:
transportation, livestock, stationary combustion, and electricity consumption. Figure 1 shows the results of the 2015 GHG inventory by category and percentage of the county’s emissions.

IN 2015 HUMBOLDT GENERATED
CARBON DIOXIDE EQUAL TO A YEAR’S

WORTH OF CARBON SEQUESTRATION
IN 2 MILLION ACRES OF FOREST.

TRINITY COUNTY IS 2 MILLION ACRES
IN SIZE.
42 6 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Transportation accounts for over half of the county’s GHG emissions in the 2015 inventory. In 2022 the California Air Resources Board published a report titled “California Greenhouse Gas Emissions for 2000 to 2020 Trends of Emissions and Other Indicators” which shows that statewide transportation accounts for 36.8%; see Figure 2.

Humboldt County’s higher fraction of overall GHG emissions from transportation compared to the state is common among rural regions.

Contributing factors may include large land areas, dispersed development, long travel distances, and limited options for mass transit compared to urban and suburban communities. Further explanation for higher transportation related GHG emissions in rural counties is reliance on four-wheel-drive/all-wheel-drive vehicles, this is especially true of many Class 2b and Figure 1: 2015 GHG inventory by source and activity in Humboldt County, including industrial point source emissions. (Source: County of Humboldt) Figure 2: 2020 California greenhouse gas emissions by economic sector (Source: CARB)
43 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 7 Class 3 pick-up trucks. We expect GHG emissions from transportation in Trinity and Del Norte Counties to be similar to Humboldt County and less comparable with statewide emissions.

The Humboldt County 2015 GHG inventory also includes a breakdown of the transportation emissions in Humboldt County by vehicle type; see Figure 3.

To calculate transportation emissions, the Humboldt County CAP relied on a Caltrans’ estimate of the total miles traveled by vehicles within Humboldt County in 2015.

Emissions vary with vehicle and fuel type, so RCEA also incorporated data on fuel consumption and types of vehicles registered in the county.

This highlights that MD/HD vehicles represent a significant share of transportation emissions in Humboldt County given that most retail and commercial trucks (35.3% of emissions) and many of the off-road vehicles (15.8% of emissions) are MD/HD vehicles.

Understanding the contribution to total GHG emissions from the MD/HD fleet of vehicles in rural counties will help us better understand how widespread adoption of MD/HD ZEVs in Del Norte, Humboldt, and Trinity counties can contribute to meeting state and regional GHG emission reduction goals.

California’s Air Quality and Climate Targets
California faces challenging mandates to reduce air pollutants to protect public health and to meet state climate change targets, including:
• 40% reduction in GHGs below 1990 levels by 2030 per SB 32; • 80% reduction in GHGs below 1990 levels by 2050 per Executive Order (EO) S-3-05; and • Net-Zero-emissions by 2045 per EC B-55-18
Meeting these goals requires a bold transformation in all sectors, including stationary, industrial, residential, and transportation, with significant contributions from public agencies, private businesses, and individuals. In rural counties like Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte, the transition of MD/HD vehicle fleets to ZEVs will be a strong contribution to these efforts.

Figure 3: Humboldt County 2015 transportation emissions by vehicle type (Source: County of Humboldt)
44 8 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Legislative and Regulatory Mandates
This section identifies statewide legislation and regulations that affect various MD/HD transportation sectors. Each piece of legislation or regulation will affect each transportation sector differently. These mandates are complicated, and this summary conveys the general landscape; specific questions about how these mandates apply to our local fleets can be directed to these organizations:
• For Executive Orders: By email at: https://www.gov.ca.gov/contact/, by mail at: 1021 O Street, Suite 9000, Sacramento, CA 95814, or by phone at: (916) 445-2841 • For CARB regulations: By email at: [email protected], or by phone at: (866) 634-3735 Executive Order N-79-20
Signed on September 23, 2020, by Governor Gavin Newsom, Executive Order (EO) N-79-20 sets a series of broad, statewide goals for transitioning the state’s transportation sector to ZEVs.

To achieve these goals, EO N-79-20 directs the California Air Resources Board (CARB) to develop and propose regulations that will help meet the broad goals of the order. See Figure 4 for an overview of CARB reduction targets by industry sector. For transportation specific goals include:
• Vehicle Sales - Develop passenger and truck regulations requiring increasing volumes of new ZEVs be sold in the state, with a target of 100 percent in-state sales by 2035.
• Fleet Transition – Develop MD/HD regulations requiring increasing volumes of new Zero-Emission trucks and buses be sold and operated in the state, with a target of 100 percent of fleets transitioning to ZEVs by 2045, where feasible, and all drayage trucks being Zero-Emission by 2035.
• Off-Road Vehicles – Achieve 100 percent Zero-Emission from off-road vehicles and equipment operations in the state by 2035 in coordination with other state agencies, the US Environmental Protection Agency, and local air districts.

Figure 4: CARB modeled GHG reductions by industry category (Source: CARB) 45 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 9 Innovative Clean Transit
Adopted in December 2018, the Innovative Clean Transit (ICT) regulation requires all public transit agencies to gradually transition to a 100 percent Zero-Emission bus (ZEB) fleet. Beginning in 2029, 100 percent of new purchases by transit agencies must be ZEBs, with a goal of full transition by 2040. The ICT applies to all transit agencies that own, operate, or lease buses with a gross vehicle weight (GVWR) rating greater than 14,000 lbs. For reference, a 40-foot transit bus, capable of holding about 42 passengers, has a GVWR between 33,000 lbs. and 40,000 lbs.

The ICT includes the following elements:
• Transit agencies must complete a ZEB roll out plan, approved by its Board, to demonstrate how the agency will complete the transition to Zero-Emission technologies by 2040; large transit agencies must submit a roll out plan by July 1, 2020, and small transit agencies by July 1, 2023.
• A transit agency is considered “large” if it operates at least 100 buses in annual service, in an urbanized area with a population of at least 200,000. All other transit agencies are considered “small”.
• The ICT includes ZEB purchases with various exemptions and compliance options to provide flexibility to transit agencies.

Table 1 summarizes the ZEB purchase requirements for large transit agencies (starting in 2023) and small transit agencies (starting in 2026) based on a percentage of new bus purchases each year that must be Zero-Emission.

Table 1: Zero-Emission Bus (ZEB) Purchase Schedule (ZEB% of Total New Bus Purchases) Year Large Transit Small Transit
2023 25% -
2024 25% -
2025 25% -
2026 50% 25%
2027 50% 25%
2028 50% 25%
2029 100% 100%
46 10 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Advanced Clean Trucks
The Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, adopted in March of 2021, is part of the state’s approach to accelerate a large-scale transition to Zero-Emission MD/HD vehicles from Class 2b to Class 8. The ACT regulation consists of a manufacturer’s ZEV sales requirement and a one-time reporting requirement for large entities and fleets. • Zero-Emission Truck Sales: Manufacturers who certify Class 2b-8 chassis or complete vehicles with combustion engines would be required to sell Zero-Emission trucks as an increasing percentage of their annual California sales from 2024 to 2035. By 2035, Zero-Emission truck/chassis sales would need to be:
o 55% of Class 2b – 3 truck sales
o 75% of Class 4 – 8 straight truck sales
o 40% of truck tractor sales.
• Company and Fleet Reporting: Large employers, including retailers, manufacturers, brokers and others, are required to report information about shipments and shuttle services. Fleet owners with 50 or more trucks are required to report about their existing fleet operations. This information will help identify future strategies to ensure that fleets purchase available Zero-Emission trucks and place them in service where suitable to meet their needs.

Zero-Emission Airport Shuttle Bus Regulation
The Airport Shuttle Bus (ASB) regulation, adopted in June of 2019, promotes the development and use of ZEV technologies in medium- and heavy-duty airport shuttles that operate on fixed routes at 13 California airports. The ASB regulation requires airport shuttle operators to transition their vehicles to ZEVs beginning in 2027, with a complete transition by the end of 2035. The ASB regulation provides compliance extensions and other flexibilities to ensure service continuity as operators transition to ZEV shuttles. The proposed ACF regulation could include some fleet operators that are also subject to the ASB regulation. Airports within this Blueprint study region do not fall under this regulation. 47 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 11 Advanced Clean Fleets
The Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulation, adopted in April of 2023, is part of the California Air Resources Board’s effort to accelerate the transition to Zero-Emission medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles in the state of California. CARB developed the ACF regulation to complement the Advanced Clean Trucks (ACT) regulation, which helps ensure that zero-emission vehicles are brought to market. Compliance requirements differ based on truck type and use. The ACF affects several major classes of regulated fleets:
• Fleets Performing Drayage Operations: Drayage Truck means any in-use on-road vehicle with a GVWR greater than 26,000 lbs that is used for transporting cargo on or through a seaport or intermodal railyard, or transporting cargo that originated from or is destined to seaport or intermodal railyard.
• Fleets Owned by State and Local Government Agencies.
• Federal Fleets.
• High Priority Commercial Fleets: Entities that own operate or direct at least one (1) vehicle in CA and have $50 million in gross annual revenue or entities that own, operate, and control a total of 50 or more vehicles (excluding light-duty delivery vehicles).

The ACF regulations include several components that will affect different transportation sectors differently. Below is a summary of some of the major components of the ACF. • Manufacturer Sales Mandate
o Manufacturers may sell only Zero-Emission medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles starting in 2036. • Drayage Fleets
o Non-Zero-Emission “legacy” combustion drayage trucks must register in CARB online system before December 31, 2023.
o Non-Zero-Emission “legacy” combustion drayage trucks will need to be removed from the registry at end of useful life (at least 13 years from engine model year and up to 18 years or 800,000 miles, whichever comes first).
o Only Zero-Emission drayage trucks may register in the CARB online system beginning January 1, 2024.
o All Drayage trucks required to be ZEVs by 2035.
48 12 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint • High Priority and Federal Fleets
o Must comply with the Model Year Schedule or may elect to use the optional ZEV Milestones Options to phase-in ZEVs.
o Model Year Schedule: Fleets must purchase ZEVs only (100%) beginning in 2024 and starting January 1, 2025, must remove internal combustion vehicles at the end of their useful life.
o ZEV Milestones Option (see Table 2): Fleets may elect to meet ZEV targets as a percentage of total fleet.
• State and Local Agencies including City, County and Special Districts o Must ensure that 50% of vehicles purchased are ZEVs beginning in 2024. o Must ensure that 100% of vehicles purchased are ZEVs beginning in 2027. o Small fleets (10 or fewer vehicles) and fleets in designated low population counties must ensure that 50% of vehicles purchased are ZEVs beginning in 2027; Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte are designated low population Counties. o State and local agencies may elect to use ZEV Milestones Option; (see Table 2). • ZEV Milestone Option –Table 2 summarizes the ZEV Milestone Option in the ACF regulation.

Table 2: ZEV Milestone Table from CARB's Advanced Clean Fleet regulation Percentage of vehicles that must be Zero-Emission 10% 25% 50% 75% 100% Milestone Group 1: Box trucks, vans, buses with two
axles, yard tractors, light-duty package delivery vehicles 2025 2028 2031 2033 2035 and beyond Milestone Group 2: Work trucks, day cab tractors, buses with three axles 2027 2030 2033 2036 2039 and beyond
Milestone Group 3: Sleeper cab tractors and specialty
vehicles 2030 2033 2036 2039 2042 and beyond
49 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 13 Sectoral timelines
Table 3 summarizes the sectoral timelines described in the various regulations above. There are several overlapping or crossover requirements, and many exemptions and exceptions in the regulations; the table below is only a very high-level summary that cannot account for all fleet characteristics and all regulation requirements.

Table 3: Summary of timelines for transition to Zero-Emission Vehicles by vehicle or fleet sector Fleet Sector Designation ZEV Goal/Timeline
Medium-Duty/Heavy Duty Vehicle
Manufacturers
100% ZEV sales only by January 1, 2036
Drayage Fleets 100% transition to ZEV by 2035
Transit Operators 100% transition to ZEV by 2040
High Priority Commercial Fleets 100% of purchases to be ZEV by January 1, 2024; full transition to ZEV by 2045
Federal Fleets 100% of purchases to be ZEV by January 1, 2024; full transition to ZEV by 2045
State and Local Government Fleets 50% of purchases to be ZEV by January 1, 2024; 100% of purchases to be ZEV by January 1, 2027; full transition to ZEV by 2045 Small State and Local Government
Fleets, Fleets from Low Pop. Counties
50% of purchases to be ZEV by January 1, 2027; 100% of purchases to be ZEV by January 1, 2030; full transition to ZEV by 2045 Airport Shuttle Buses 100% transition to ZEV by 2035
50 14 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint

MEETING THE MANDATES
The Schatz Energy Research Center (SERC), under contract to the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA), developed the following information for the Blueprint:
• Projections for MD/HD ZEV uptake
• Projections for MD/HD ZEV fuel demand
• ZEV uptake and infrastructure timeline
The Schatz team deployed a “top-down” analysis methodology (explained below), where state-level estimates of the regional MD/HD vehicle populations and vehicle miles traveled were used to develop future projections of the MD/HD ZEV uptake, fuel demand and fueling infrastructure needs.

The RCEA team developed a list of regional fleet operators and conducted a fleet survey, which provides some regional fleet information, and a list of fleet operators and locations. This informed the Schatz Center team in determining the expected geographic distribution of needed ZEV fueling infrastructure.

This section:
• Describes the analysis conducted by the Schatz Center and presents the resulting estimates of MD/HD ZEV uptake, fuel demand, and fueling infrastructure needs. • Presents an infrastructure timeline.
• Proposes a geographic distribution for hydrogen fueling and electric vehicle charging infrastructure.

Study Region Vehicle Population and Vehicle Miles Traveled Data sources to determine vehicle population and vehicle miles traveled (VMT) include:
• Data from the California Air Resources Board’s Emission FACtor (EMFAC) model. • Local Fleet survey (used for geographic distribution estimates only, and did not inform the quantitative assessment of ZEV uptake, fuel demand, infrastructure needs or infrastructure timeline).
51 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 15 EMFAC Data for Humboldt, Trinity, and Del Norte Counties The California Air Resources Board's Emissions Factor (EMFAC) Fleet Database was used to determine the MD/HD vehicle population by class for each county (2020 registration year), and to obtain estimates of vehicle miles traveled data by class.

Following CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation Summary and Advanced Clean Trucks Fact Sheet, CARB regulations primarily cover medium- and heavy-duty on-road vehicles with a gross vehicle weight rating greater than 8,500 lbs. This includes Class 2b through Class 8 vehicles, as shown in Figure 5. These are the vehicle categories included in this study. Two vehicle types not directly included in the analysis are:
• Class 2a vehicles (GVWR = 6,001 to 8,500 lbs): Vehicles in this category include the Ford F-150, RAM 1500 and Chevrolet 1500 pickup trucks, while the Ford F-250, RAM 2500 and Chevrolet 2500 are classified as Class 2b vehicles (GVWR = 8,501 to 10,000 lbs). We did not include Class 2a vehicles in our analysis, but did estimate the fuel demands for this vehicle class. We anticipate that most Class 2a vehicles are owned by private individuals and are not part of a commercial fleet. However, fleet survey and anecdotal data confirm that a significant number of these vehicles are used in fleets.
• EMFAC motorhome vehicle classification: We expect that most of these vehicles are owned by private individuals rather than fleet operators. However, from a weight rating standpoint these vehicles mostly fall into the MD/HD category.

See appendices in the associated Final Report for estimates of vehicle population data, ZEV adoption rates, and the potential fuel demand for the Class 2a and motorhome vehicle categories in our study region.

A summary of the vehicle population estimates and the estimated VMT data obtained from the EMFAC database for this study are shown in Table 4. We note that EMFAC vehicle population and VMT data are specified by EMFAC vehicle class, which is not the same as the vehicle weight classes shown in Figure 5. Except for buses (EMFAC vehicle classes B, BS and BT), the respective GVWRs are shown in Table 4 for each of the EMFAC vehicle classes. Buses fall mainly in Classes 6 and 7.

Class 2b - 8,501 to 10,000 lbs
Figure 5: Vehicle classes defined as MD/HD for this study (adapted from U.S. Department of Energy/Oak Ridge
National Laboratory)
52 16 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Table 4: 2020 Vehicle population and VMT by class, Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity counties EMFAC Vehicle Class
Vehicle
Pop.

Humboldt
Annual
VMT per
Vehicle
Humboldt
Vehicle
Pop.

Del Norte
Annual
VMT per
Vehicle
Del Norte
Vehicle
Pop.

Trinity
Annual
VMT per
Vehicle
Trinity
B (All other buses) 108 19,400 23 19,600 8 48,300
BS (School buses) 225 6,600 55 9,700 37 11,000
BT (Urban buses) 82 18,200 13 5,300 10 15,700
T4 (Light-heavy duty trucks,
GVWR 8501–10,000 lbs,
Class 2b)
9,527 11,400 1780 11,100 1554 15,500
T5 (Light-heavy duty trucks,
GVWR 10,001–14,000 lbs,
Class 3)
2,019 13,400 306 13,400 244 21,000
T6 (Medium-heavy duty
trucks, GVWR 14,001–33,000
lbs, Classes 4, 5, 6 & 7)
1,079 17,200 157 12,400 182 49,100
T7 (Heavy-heavy duty trucks,
GVWR >33,000 lbs, Class 8)
1,026 57,500 147 15,100 185 143,100
Total 14,066 2,481 2,220
Fleet Surveys
For any MD/HD fleet owner or operator, a successful transition to ZEVs must include a detailed and specific analysis of the existing fleet, and conducting a fleet survey is the first step. In rural counties where fleet managers are often tasked with many responsibilities (including driving shifts), conducting a survey often requires a dedicated consultant. This work is often performed by engineering firms at additional cost to the fleet owner/operator and may require its own source of funding.
53 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 17 To gather the data, the fleet survey will require input from the fleet managers or others with detailed knowledge of fleet operations. Data that may be gathered during a fleet survey include:
• Existing vehicle type (make and model)
• Vehicle age or vehicle model year
• Daily vehicle miles traveled (VMT)
• Vehicle Duty Cycle: hours of operation, down time (if any). elevation changes/route data, and domicile location
An example of the fleet survey forms that RCEA administered during our research on this MD/HD ZEV Readiness Blueprint can be found in the Final Report appendices.

Estimates of Appropriate ZEV Adoption Rates (BEV/FCEV)
To develop estimates of MD/HD ZEV sales and fleet adoption rates, we referenced the following State goals, regulations, and guidelines:
• The State’s ZEV Action Plan, as well as Executive Order N-79-20 state that we must reach 100% sales of MD/HD vehicles by 2045. These documents also communicate the State’s target of transitioning 100% of the MD/HD fleet to Zero-Emission vehicles by 2045. • CARB’s Advanced Clean Truck regulations state that “By 2035, Zero-Emission truck/chassis sales will need to be 55% of Class 2b – 3 truck sales, 75% of Class 4 – 8 straight truck sales, and 40% of truck tractor sales.”
• CARB’s Advanced Clean Fleet Regulations state that “fleets, businesses, and public entities that own or direct the operation of medium- and heavy-duty vehicles in California must purchase and operate ZEVs to achieve a smooth transition to ZEV fleets by 2045 everywhere feasible, and specifically to reach:
o 100 percent Zero-Emission drayage trucks, last mile delivery, and government fleets by 2035
o 100 percent Zero-Emission refuse trucks and local buses by 2040 o 100 percent Zero-Emission capable utility fleets by 2040.

Based on data in the CARB EMFAC database, we assumed a 15-year vehicle life, resulting in an average annual fleet replacement rate of 6.7% and a 15-year period for the MD/HD fleet to completely turn over. The 15-year vehicle life was determined based on the weighted average MD/HD vehicle age in Humboldt County in the year 2020.

ASSUMPTIONS:
• 15-YEAR VEHICLE LIFE
• 6.7% ANNUAL FLEET

REPLACEMENT RATE
54 18 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint We used the State goals, guidelines, and regulations stated above, as well as the 15-year replacement assumption to guide our development of a ZEV sales rate profile. Using the State’s goals, we established a set of ambitious MD/HD adoption rates for the study region. This includes reaching 100% ZEV vehicle sales in the MD/HD sector by 2036, and a 100% ZEV MD/HD fleet by 2045. Figure 6 shows the assumed annual ZEV sales percentage as a percent of total sales, as well as the percent of ZEVs in the entire MD/HD fleet for Humboldt County through 2045. Figure 7 shows the resulting number of MD/HD annual ZEV sales (series 1) and number of ZEVs in the overall fleet (series 2) for Humboldt County, again through 2045. An analogous approach was used for Del Norte Trinity Counties. See tables in the Final Report appendices for ZEV sales assumptions and cumulative ZEV fleet projections for Del Norte and Trinity.

Figure 6: Assumed Humboldt County MD/HD ZEV adoption rates through 2045. 0%
20%
40%
60%
80%
100%
120%
2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
ZEV %
Year
Humboldt County MD/HD ZEV Adoption Forecast
ZEV sales % of total sales ZEVs % of fleet

MD/HD ADOPTION GOALS FOR
THE STUDY REGION:
• 100% ZEV VEHICLE SALES
BY 2036
• 100% ZEV MD/HD FLEET
BY 2045
55 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 19 Figure 7: The number of ZEVs sold annually and the total ZEVs in the fleet by year for Humboldt.

Estimated Annual ZEV Fuel Demand Profiles – Electricity and Hydrogen Using the estimates of annual ZEVs in the MD/HD fleet, we estimated the MD/HD ZEV energy consumption by class, including estimates of electricity consumption for charging battery electric vehicles (BEVs), and hydrogen consumption for fueling fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs).

For this analysis, we used ZEV fuel economy estimates (kWh/mi or kg/mi) from various sources, including real data from demonstration projects, information from research studies, and manufacturer specifications. The ZEV fuel economy assumptions, along with a list of references, are shown in the associated Final Report appendices.
0 2,000
4,000
6,000
8,000
10,000
12,000
14,000
16,000
2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
Number of MD/HD ZEVs
Year
Humboldt County MD/HD ZEV Adoption Forecast
Series1 Series2
56 20 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint To estimate the ZEV energy consumption by vehicle class, we started with a percentage of BEVs and FCEVs. Our anticipation is that BEVs will likely dominate the MD/HD vehicle population, with potential for substantial penetration of FCEVs. We estimated ZEV energy consumption for the following two scenarios.
• Scenario 1: MD/HD vehicle population is 100% BEV.
• Scenario 2: MD/HD vehicle population is 50% BEV and 50% FCEV.

The 100% BEV assumption provides an upper range for increased electrical demand, and we think that the 50% FCEV scenario provides a reasonable estimate of maximum potential hydrogen fuel demand. Below are the equations used to estimate the annual fuel consumption for the forecasted ZEV population by vehicle class, either in kWh of electricity or kg of hydrogen.

Scenario 1: MD/HD vehicle population is 100% BEV.
• We used the following equation to calculate the electricity consumption used to charge the MD/HD BEVs:
kWh/yr = (100% MD/HD vehicle population) * (VMT/vehicle/yr) * kWh/mi Scenario 2: MD/HD vehicle population is 50% BEV and 50% FCEV • We used the following equation to calculate the electricity consumption that will be used to charge BEVs:
kWh/yr = (50% MD/HD vehicle population) * (VMT/vehicle/yr) * kWh/mi • We used the following equation to calculate the amount of hydrogen that will be required to fuel FCEVs:
kg/yr = (50% MD/HD vehicle population) * (VMT/vehicle/yr) * kg/mi Using the above formulas, we calculated the energy consumption (both electricity and hydrogen) by year for each county for both scenarios. Tables showing the annual GWh required for BEV charging and the annual kg of hydrogen required for hydrogen FCEVs are presented below, with results shown for each of the three counties through the year 2045. This information can be used to assess the amount of fueling infrastructure needed to support the projected MD/HD ZEV fleets.
0 25
50 75
100
Scenario 1 Scenario 2
Percent

BEV FCEV
57 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 21 Scenario 1 energy requirement: 100% BEV
Table 5 shows the total GWh per year required to charge the MD/HD BEVs for Scenario 1 (100% BEV) for all three counties, and Figure 8 presents the results graphically for Humboldt County only. For scale, we compare the total annual GWh required for BEV charging to the total annual GWh consumed in each county in the year 2021. Total electricity consumption in 2021, including both residential and non-residential loads, for the three counties2 are:
• Humboldt – 821 GWh
• Del Norte – 212 GWh
• Trinity – 159 GWh
When the entire MD/HD fleets have converted to BEVs in Humboldt County by 2045, the electricity for charging results in a 26% increase compared to the county’s 2021 total electric load. For Del Norte County the increase is 9%, and for Trinity County is 49%. Notably, this is the change associated with MD/HD fleet uptake alone. During the same period, it is anticipated that there will also be significant uptake of BEVs in the light-duty fleet as well as electrification of energy loads such as water and space heating. Preparing for this increase in total electricity demand as well as the shifts in load shape associated with that demand must be a key energy planning priority in the coming decades.

There are large differences between the counties in terms of the estimated electricity consumption growth rates associated with MD/HD BEV charging. One explanation for this is the correspondingly large differences in the estimated average vehicle miles traveled for MD/HD vehicles in each of the three counties. The county with the largest increase in electricity use is Trinity, which also has the greatest weighted average VMT at 29,537 miles/vehicle/year. The high VMT for Trinity County is likely due to the diffuse population compared to the other two counties in the study. For comparison, Humboldt has a weighted average VMT of 15,519 miles/vehicle/year, and Del Norte has a weighted average VMT of 11,720 miles/vehicle/year.

The number of MD/HD fleet vehicles in Del Norte and Trinity Counties are nearly the same (Trinity County at 2,220, Del Norte County at 2,480). However, the energy consumption for ZEVs in Trinity County is about 4 times the energy consumption for ZEVs in Del Norte County, and this also seems to be tied to the high VMT value for the MD/HD fleet in Trinity County. 2 From: California Energy Commission Energy http://www.ecdms.energy.ca.gov/elecbycounty.aspx 0 500
1000
1500
2000
Region Humboldt Del Norte
GWh
2021 2045
0 5,000
10,000
15,000
20,000
25,000
30,000
35,000
Humboldt Del Norte Trinity
Vehicle Miles Traveled
(VMT)
VMT vehicle/year
58 22 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Table 5: Electricity requirements by year for MD/HD BEV charging (100% BEVs) Year Humboldt Del Norte Trinity
Annual BEV
Charging
(GWh)
% of 2021
county
electric
load
Annual BEV
Charging
(GWh)
% of 2021
county
electric
load
Annual BEV
Charging
(GWh)
% of 2021
county
electric
load
2023 0.7 0.1% 0.1 0.03% 0.3 0.2%
2024 2.1 0.3% 0.2 0.1% 0.8 0.5%
2025 4.2 0.5% 0.4 0.2% 1.6 1.0%
2026 7.0 0.9% 0.7 0.3% 2.6 1.6%
2027 11 1.3% 1.0 0.5% 3.9 2.4%
2028 15 1.8% 1.4 0.7% 5.5 3.4%
2029 20 2.4% 1.8 0.9% 7.3 4.6%
2030 25 3.1% 2.4 1.1% 9.3 5.9%
2031 32 3.9% 3.0 1.4% 12 7.5%
2032 41 5.0% 3.8 1.8% 15 9.5%
2033 51 6.2% 4.7 2.2% 19 12%
2034 62 7.5% 5.8 2.7% 23 14%
2035 75 9.1% 7.0 3.3% 28 17%
2036 89 11% 8.3 3.9% 33 21%
2037 103 13% 9.6 4.5% 38 24%
2038 117 14% 11 5.2% 43 27%
2039 131 16% 12 5.8% 48 30%
2040 145 18% 14 6.4% 53 34%
2041 159 19% 15 7.0% 54 37%
2042 173 21% 16 7.6% 64 40%
2043 187 23% 18 8.3% 69 43%
2044 201 25% 19 8.9% 74 47%
2045 211 26% 20 9.3% 78 49%
59 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 23 Figure 8: Humboldt County Projected Annual GWh to Charge MD/HD BEVs Scenario 2 energy requirement: 50% BEV/50% FCEV
The results for Scenario 2 (50% BEV, 50% FCEV) for all three counties are presented in Table 6, with a graphical presentation for Humboldt County provided in Figure 9, showing total GWh of electricity needed (series 1) and total kg of hydrogen needed (series 2). 0 100
200
300
400
500
600
700
800
900
2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
GWh
Year
Annual GWh to charge MD/HD BEVs (100% BEVs)
Annual BEV Charging (GWh)
Total Humboldt County Electric Load (2021) = 821 GWh
60 24 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Table 6: Electricity and hydrogen requirements by year for 50/50 BEVs/FCEVs Year Humboldt Del Norte Trinity
Annual
GWh
Annual
FCEV
Fueling
(metric
tons H2)
% of
2021
county
electric
load
Annual
GWh
Annual
FCEV
Fueling
(metric
tons H2)
% of 2021
county
electric
load
Annual
GWh
Annual
FCEV
Fueling
(metric
tons H2)
% of
2021
county
electric
load
2023 0.4 22 0.04% 0.03 2.1 0.02% 0.1 8 0.08%
2024 1.1 66 0.1% 0.1 6.3 0.05% 0.4 24 0.2%
2025 2.1 132 0.3% 0.2 13 0.1% 0.8 48 0.5%
2026 3.5 220 0.4% 0.3 21 0.2% 1.3 80 0.8%
2027 5.3 331 0.6% 0.5 31 0.2% 1.9 120 1.2%
2028 7.4 463 0.9% 0.7 44 0.3% 2.7 168 1.7%
2029 10 617 1.2% 0.9 58 0.4% 3.6 224 2.3%
2030 13 793 1.5% 1.2 75 0.6% 4.7 288 2.9%
2031 16 1,014 2.0% 1.5 96 0.7% 6.0 368 3.8%
2032 20 1,278 2.5% 1.9 121 0.9% 7.5 464 4.7%
2033 25 1,587 3.1% 2.4 150 1.1% 9.3 576 5.9%
2034 31 1,940 3.8% 2.9 184 1.4% 11 704 7.2%
2035 37 2,336 4.5% 3.5 221 1.6% 14 498 8.7%
2036 44 2,777 5.4% 4.1 263 2.0% 16 1,009 10%
2037 51 3,218 6.3% 4.8 305 2.3% 19 1,169 12%
2038 59 3,659 7.1% 5.5 346 2.6% 22 1,329 14%
2039 66 4,100 8.0% 6.1 388 2.9% 24 1,489 15%
2040 73 4,541 8.8% 6.8 430 3.2% 27 1,649 17%
2041 80 4,981 10% 7.4 472 3.5% 29 1,809 18%
2042 87 5,422 11% 8.1 513 3.8% 32 1,969 20%
2043 94 5,863 11% 8.8 555 4.1% 34 2,129 22%
2044 101 6,304 12% 9.4 597 4.4% 37 2,290 23%
2045 106 6,612 13% 9.9 626 4.7% 39 2,402 24%
61 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 25 In Scenario 2 we assume that 50% of the MD/HD fleet are BEVs (rather than the 100% assumed in Scenario 1), so the total annual GWh of electricity consumed is precisely half of Scenario 1.

For the estimated hydrogen consumption of the 50% MD/HD fleet that are FCEVs, estimated annual quantities of hydrogen consumed by county at full build-out in 2045 are:
• Humboldt – 6,612 metric tons/year
• Del Norte – 626 metric tons/year
• Trinity – 2,402 metric tons/year
-

20.0 40.0

60.0 80.0
100.0
120.0
-
1,000
2,000
3,000
4,000
5,000
6,000
7,000
2020 2025 2030 2035 2040 2045
GWh
H2 (Metric Tons)
Year
Humboldt Annual Energy Consumption for 50% FCEVs & 50% BEVs Series1 Series2
Figure 9: Humboldt County Annual GWh (series 1) to Charge MD/HD BEVs and Kg hydrogen (series 2) to fuel FCEVs (assumes 50% BEVs and 50% FCEVs for MD/HD ZEV fleet) 62 26 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint

PROJECTED CHARGING/FUELING

INFRASTRUCTURE
Using the fuel demand projections from the previous section, this section evaluates the infrastructure needed to support electric and hydrogen fueling for the MD/HD fleet within the study region.

Need for EV Charging Stations
Electric vehicle charging infrastructure can largely be treated like any other electrical appliance, and located virtually anywhere there is electrical service as long as there is sufficient capacity on the electric grid at key locations. Because Level-2 and DC Fast Chargers that are needed in the MD/HD sector use more power (19 kW-350 kW) than a typical appliance, electric grid capacity is a crucial factor when installing these chargers. Fleet operators generally should be able to install charging infrastructure at their own facilities to meet their charging needs, much of which is likely to occur overnight. They will need to:
• Assess their electrical service infrastructure to see if it can handle the added load, including the capacity of their utility service.
• For required upgrades, estimate costs, and required process to move projects forward. • Consult with their electrical utility for incentives or related programs.

For regional planning for EV fleet charging infrastructure, local planning entities can work with and support local fleet operators to determine their needs.

This study employs a very high-level assessment of the potential need for EV charging infrastructure to support the regional MD/HD BEV fleet. Assuming that the MD/HD ZEV fleet will be 100% BEV, we can estimate the greatest added electrical load and greatest need for infrastructure. In 2045, with full adoption of ZEVs in the MD/HD fleet, we expect approximately 18,800 BEVs. If we assume that each fleet vehicle will need to charge daily, likely overnight, then over 18,000 new EV charging ports are needed to serve the regional fleet, and these chargers will mainly reside at the fleet operators’ base locations where the vehicles return each day.

In terms of charger capacity and charging times, the 18,800 vehicles are expected to require 309 GWH of charging energy annually. On average, this is approximately 45 kWh/day for each BEV. If vehicles recharge nightly with a 19.2 kW Level 2 charger, they will charge for about 2.5 hours. If 63 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 27 they are set for a full charge in 8 hours, it will require an average charge rate of 5.6 kW.

Alternatively, if vehicles have adequate range and can charge every other day, then only 9,400 chargers would be needed. In this case, each charger would be required to provide 90 kWh of charge in an overnight session, requiring about 5 hours at 19 kW, or 8 hours at 11 kW.

These numbers are approximate and generalized and each fleet and vehicle will have their own use cases and charging needs. Nonetheless, these high-level numbers provide a sense of what EV charging infrastructure might be needed to support a 100% MD/HD BEV fleet. If 50% of the fleet is FCEV and 50% is BEV, the electrical energy and charging needs will be reduced by half.

There may also be a need for fast chargers in key locations for fleet drivers to quickly recharge vehicles. This could be a planned charging strategy where high-powered, fast EV chargers are located along key day-time routes and/or at key destinations for one or more fleet operators.

Operators could then complete a fast charge during the day before making a return trip to their base location at the end of the day. In these situations, siting needs to consider the vehicle size to support adequate pull-through or turning radius.

Need for Hydrogen Fueling Stations
To gain a sense of scale for hydrogen consumption, we examined the fueling capacity for planned hydrogen stations for AC Transit in the San Francisco East Bay Area and for Humboldt Transit Authority in Eureka, CA. AC Transit has operated FCEV buses and their own hydrogen fueling facilities for more than 15 years. Currently they operate 36 FCEV buses, and their planned and pending hydrogen fueling stations will be designed to deliver approximately 5,000 to 6,000 kg/day3.

Humboldt Transit Authority is currently working to build a new hydrogen fueling station in Eureka, CA that will support 11 FCEV buses. This project is expected to be operational in 2025. The fuel demand for the HTA station in year 10 is expected to be about 800 kg/day.4 We have rounded this up to 1,000 kg/day.

Based on this information, we modeled two different sized hydrogen fueling stations that could provide hydrogen fuel for a MD/HD FCEV fleet that serves the study region.

The modular sizes for a small and large hydrogen fueling station are shown in Table 7. 3 AC Transit Zero-Emission Transit Bus Technology Analysis, Volume 4, December 14, 2022., https://www.actransit.org/sites/default/files/2023-01/0430-22%20Report-ZEBTA%20v4_FNL_012423.pdf. 4 Humboldt Transit Authority Projection, Aug. 2023
64 28 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Table 7: Modeled hydrogen station capacities
Size H2 throughput capacity Example station
Small 1,000 kg/day HTA Hydrogen Station
Large 5,000 kg/day AC Transit Hydrogen Station
Based on the estimated fuel demand in 2045 for a 50% FCEV fleet scenario, the number of stations required throughout the region is estimated to be 8 small (1,000 kg/day) and 5 large (5,000 kg/day) stations. These numbers also allow for an adequate geographic distribution of hydrogen fueling stations throughout the region.

We also estimate that if the required volume was trucked into the region as liquid hydrogen, it would require on average about 7 cryogenic hydrogen tanker trucks/day (assuming a typical hydrogen tanker carries 4,000 kg of hydrogen). Table 8 provides an estimate of the number of hydrogen fueling stations needed throughout the region at a five-year interval starting in 2030 and achieving full build out of 8 small and 5 large stations by 2045.

Table 8: Estimated number of hydrogen stations needed in the region from 2030 through 2045.

Year
2030 kg/day 3,167
# of 1000 kg/day stations 3
# of 5000 kg/day stations 1
2035 kg/day 9,332
# of 1000 kg/day stations 5
# of 5000 kg/day stations 2
2040 kg/day 18,137
# of 1000 kg/day stations 6
# of 5000 kg/day stations 4
2045 kg/day 26,411
# of 1000 kg/day stations 8
# of 5000 kg/day stations 5
65 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 29

WHERE TO PLACE FUELING

INFRASTRUCTURE
To determine the regional distribution of the required fueling infrastructure, our analysis determined the expected geographic distribution for the fuel demand and then placed EV charging stations and hydrogen fueling stations accordingly. Numerous population and retail business metrics were assessed to estimate the desired geographic distribution, including:
• Population distribution (2020 US Census)
• Distribution of retail sales (2020 US Census)
• Distribution of transportation and warehousing receipts/revenue (2020 US Census)
• Distribution of existing gasoline/diesel fueling stations (Google Maps) • Distribution of fleet operators (Redwood Coast Energy Authority) Using these indicators, a high-level evaluation determined where the greatest fueling activity is likely. We also examined fueling capacity needs in outlying areas, where interregional vehicles are likely to fuel and are key to connectivity for intra-regional activities. While economic indicators such as population and retail sales may be low in these boundary locations, we think that placing fueling infrastructure in these locations will be critical in the study region.

Table 9 shows the population and economic indicators in the rows 1-5, with the indicator percentages for each region in rows 6-10. Row 11 shows the proposed percentage breakout for fueling infrastructure. The four population centers around Humboldt Bay (Eureka, Arcata, McKinleyville and Fortuna) represent 60% of the proposed fueling infrastructure capacity in Humboldt County. In comparison, the demographic and economic indicators for the same four population centers are: population = 41%, transportation and warehousing receipts = 49%, retail sales = 65%, and fleet operators = 66%.

The maps in Figures 10 through 12 graphically present population data, existing gasoline/diesel fueling station data, and fleet operator data summarized in Table 9. We note that the existing gasoline/diesel fueling station data are uncertain estimates that were derived from an analysis using Google maps.
66 30 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Nonetheless, the fueling station data collected agree well with data available from the California Energy Commission’s California Retail Fuel Outlet Annual Reporting (CEC-A15)5.

Table 9: Population and Economic Indicators as Surrogates for Expected Fueling Activity 5 https://www.energy.ca.gov/data-reports/energy-almanac/transportation-energy/california-retail-fuel-outlet-annual-reporting Row
Fortuna
CA
Eureka,
CA
Arcata,
McKinleyville

CDP, CA
Rest of
Humboldt
County
Del
Norte
County
Trinity
County
1 Population (April 2020
census) 12,516 26,512 35,119 136,463 27,743 16,112
2 Transportation and
warehousing
receipts/revenue, 2017
($1,000)
2,635 29,292 22,537 100,662 7,641 2,587
3 Retail sales, 2017 ($1,000) 167,549 1,008,010 376,607 2,055,468 229,945 98,220 4 Existing gasoline stations 84 13 18
5 Fleet operators 46 243 139 555 72 23
6 Population (April 2020
census) (%) 7% 15% 19% 35% 15% 9%
7 Transportation and
warehousing
receipts/revenue, 2017 (%)
2% 26% 20% 42% 7% 2%
8 Retail sales, 2017 (%) 7% 42% 16% 21% 10% 4%
9 Existing gasoline stations (%) 73% 13% 18%
10 Fleet operators (%) 7% 37% 21% 20% 11% 4%
11 Proposed % breakout for
fueling infrastructure 10% 30% 20%
Rest of Humboldt County +
Del Norte and Trinity Counties
40%
67 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 31 Figure 10: Population Distribution Map for Study Region (Source: 2020 US Census) 68 32 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Figure 11: Existing Gasoline/Diesel Fueling Station Map for Study Region (Source: Google Maps) Existing Fueling
Station Map
12-30 stations
6 to 11 stations
1 to 5 stations
69 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 33 tor Map
26 to 100 operators
11 to 25 operators
1 to 10 operators
101 to 250 operators
Figure 12: Fleet Operator Map for Study Region (Source: Redwood Coast Energy Authority) 70 34 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Locating Hydrogen Fueling Station Infrastructure
Using the population and economic indicators described above, this section proposes the number and placement of hydrogen fueling stations needed by year; see Table 10. A map of the proposed hydrogen fueling stations at full buildout in 2045 is presented in Figure 13.

Table 10: Proposed Number of Hydrogen Fueling Stations by Location, Year and Size Year Parameter Fortuna,
California
Eureka,
California
Arcata +
McKinleyville,
California
Rest of
Humboldt,
Del Norte &
Trinity
Counties
2030
kg/day 317 950 633 1,267
# of 1000 kg/day stations 1 1 1 0
# of 5000 kg/day stations 0 0 0 1
2035
kg/day 933 2,799 1,866 3,733
# of 1000 kg/day stations 1 3 1 0
# of 5000 kg/day stations 0 0 1 1
2040
kg/day 1,814 5,441 3,627 7,255
# of 1000 kg/day stations 2 3 1 0
# of 5000 kg/day stations 0 1 1 2
2045
kg/day 2,641 7,923 5,282 10,564
# of 1000 kg/day stations 3 3 1 1
# of 5000 kg/day stations 0 1 1 3
71 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 35 Map
H2 fueling station
(1,000 kg/day)
H2 fueling station
(5,000 kg/day)
Figure 13: Proposed Hydrogen Fueling Station Map for Study Region for Full Buildout in 2045 72 36 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Locating Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
For Scenario 1 where the MD/HD ZEV fleet will be 100% BEV, we will need about 18,800 EV charging ports. We expect that the distribution of EV charging infrastructure should be similar to the distribution of fleet operators (Figure 12: Fleet Operator Map for Study Region (Source:

Redwood Coast Energy Authority)). If we use the same geographic distribution parameters that we used for the hydrogen fueling infrastructure, that will lead to a distribution of EV charging stations around the region in the proportions shown in Table 11. If 50% of the MD/HD ZEVs were FCEV and 50% were BEV, we would need half as much infrastructure.

Table 11: Possible distribution of EV charging infrastructure percentages in 2045 to support 100% BEV MD/HD Fleet (assumes daily charging)
Eureka Arcata/
McKinleyville Fortuna Rest of Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity Counties % of infrastructure 30% 20% 10% 40%
# fleet EV chargers 5,630 3,750 1,880 7,510
In 2023, the Federal Highway Administration introduced the designation of Freight EV corridors, and California nominated 14 additional segments including Highway 101 from Santa Rosa to the Oregon border6. This increases potential funding for EV charging for north-south routes; see Figure 14.
6 “California's Deployment Plan for the National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Program”, California Energy Commission; https://dot.ca.gov/-/media/dot-media/programs/esta/documents/nevi/2023- ca-nevi-plan-update-final-a11y.pdf
Figure 14: Proposed Freight EV corridor in study region 73 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 37 A local planning entity could work with the local electric utility to determine potential regional electrical distribution infrastructure upgrades and placement. One set of tools that could be useful in this effort are PG&E’s Distributed Resource Planning data and maps7, including their Integration Capacity Analysis (ICA) Map and their Distribution Investment Deferral Framework (DIDF) Map. These resources provide maps of the distribution system and identify approximate available capacity on the existing electrical grid. In the example map shown in Figure 15: green lines have 1.5-2.0 MW of load hosting capacity, yellow have 1.0-1.5 MW of load hosting capacity, orange have up to 1 MW of load hosting capacity and red has 0.0 MW of load hosting capacity.
7 https://www.pge.com/en_US/for-our-business-partners/distribution-resource-planning/distribution-resource-planning-data-portal.page Figure 15: Screen shot of the ICA map for the Arcata area showing load hosting capacity. 74 38 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Early-Adopter Placement
Although this blueprint focuses on general region-wide infrastructure placement, this section outlines several initial build-out siting opportunities for both electric and hydrogen infrastructure.

Electric charging hubs
Electricity is generally universal near populated areas, but interconnection capacity may be an issue along with limited space options for access by large vehicles. Remote locations may have more available space, but connection to the grid is limited or very costly. Placing initial charging infrastructure is a balance of finding MD/HD capable physical locations with cost-effective grid connection, or where onsite generation is a viable option for truly remote locations.

Arcata Transit Center
The Arcata Transit Center is a bus terminal in downtown Arcata that serves six fixed-route local and intercity transit services, including service to Crescent City and Amtrak connections in Martinez, CA. This site is also the northern terminus for Greyhound Lines to San Francisco. This site can support local and regional Level 3 charging. 75 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 39 RCEA has applied to the U.S. Department of Transportation for discretionary funds8to establish DC fast charging capacity at this site, and should we receive the award any additional funds will provide match dollars or expand capacity.

Eureka City Schools
Eureka City Schools (ECS) are a regional early adopter of electric buses. ECS has received several HVIP vouchers for new buses to be delivered between December of 2023 and December of 2025, and RCEA assisted ECS staff with an associated Energiize grant application for new electric vehicle charging stations.

City of Rio Dell
Located in southern Humboldt, Rio Dell provides a strategic refueling location either for heading further south from the populous Humboldt Bay region, or after traveling north through a long stretch of Highway 101 with limited services; see Figure 16. RCEA has applied to the U.S.

Department of Transportation for discretionary fundsIBID to establish DC fast charging capacity at this site, and should we receive the award any additional funds will provide match dollars or expand capacity.
8 U.S. Department of Transportation, Federal Highway Administration Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Opportunity (Notice of Funding Opportunity 693JJ323NF00004) Figure 16: Strategic value of Rio Dell for fast
charging along Highway 101.
76 40 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint EV charging and energy storage
The National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) is currently researching options to develop charging hubs that can manage reliable, high-power charging at the 1-megawatt level or higher. Goals are to advance interoperable, reliable, and fast charging systems using a high-power DC charging hub integrated with the electric grid. Onsite energy storage and integration with other site loads are also considered.

An emerging opportunity exists to site EV charging with energy storage systems (ESS). ESS infrastructure provides ancillary electrical services where the grid experiences reliability issues, and one useful application is to offset power peaks on specific grid nodes to defer expensive transmission line upgrades. Depending on their siting, an ESS may be able to offer a secondary role as EV charging depots. Transmission and distribution capacity concerns exist across the study region and RCEA is in discussion with one utility regarding potential ESS siting.

Potential hydrogen sites
In 2019 RCEA completed a CEC grant to for fuel cell EV readiness in the north coast region9. The outcome includes a request for information regarding possible sites for local utility-scale solar energy projects. Although the emphasis is on light-duty vehicles as the perceived early adoption market, it helps to inform parallel efforts in the MD/HD sector. 9 https://redwoodenergy.org/fuel-cell/
Illustration by Al Hicks, NREL
77 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 41 Humboldt Transit Authority
The Humboldt Transit Authority is currently acquiring 11 hydrogen buses and is working with a bus manufacturer to develop equipment that can tackle rural route characteristics, including expanded range, temperature, and elevation capacity. As an early adopter in a remote area, HTA serves as an excellent anchor tenant to promote hydrogen fueling infrastructure and is open to business models that allow public use.

Figure 17: Early draft concept of redesigned HTA Administration and Maintenance Facility; illustration courtesy of HTA 78 42 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint State Agency Depot
State fleets have the potential to accelerate FCEV adoption across the state by creating fuel demand to catalyze private investment in fueling infrastructure and creating the opportunity for communities not originally targeted in state planning (rural, disadvantaged community) to adopt FCEVs. The California Department of General Services can take several steps to promote this concept:
• Proactively communicate planned FCEV purchases to the California Fuel Cell Partnership, car manufacturers and station developers. Coordinate with station developers to enable state fleet managers to place FCEVs where they make sense. This expressed demand will open investment opportunities.
• In more rural areas on major transportation corridors, host fueling stations (fleet-only access or public retail) on state-owned property centrally located relative to multiple government fleets (local, state, and federal).
• In more rural areas with potential for near-term public demand10, consider prioritizing public retail access by incorporating “shared-over-the-fence” fueling station equipment11. This will enable local community fueling, long distance and destination travel, and interstate connectivity.

Caltrans: in 2019 Caltrans District 1, in coordination with the state-level DOT team, indicated that they are interested in hydrogen fueling infrastructure conveniently located for Caltrans fleet, but to date is unavailable to serve as site host for public access. Legislation could help establish policies for state agencies to develop public-private projects that advance state goals. 10 See CARB CHIT model results at
http://californiaarb.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=99be905d3127405e81851fd60b19 cda2
11 For an example of “over-the-fence” public access, see the AC Transit Emeryville station located at 1172 45th St, Emeryville, CA 94608.

Figure 18: AC Transit HyROAD Fueling Station, Emeryville; image courtesy Google Maps
79 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 43 California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW): Although outside of the study region, the CDFW facility in Yreka, Siskiyou County could serve several state and federal fleets including CalTrans, CDFW, the California Highway Patrol, U.S. Forest Service, and others. It is also located on Hwy 5 near the Oregon border and could serve interstate travel. This site could have potential for high daily volume demand.

See Figure 19.

Truck stop options: Private developers are showing interest in potential locations to create truck stops that can include hydrogen fueling. There are no active truck stops within the study region, so this effort would require new development. The potential hydrogen siting map in Figure 13 shows possible real estate acquisitions to investigate as a next step, specifically for locations with sufficient footprints such as along the outskirts of towns and cities.

Figure 19: CDFW, 1625 S. Main Street, Yreka; courtesy
Google Maps
80 44 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Barriersto ZEV Adoption
California sets an ambitious goal to transition MD/HD fleets to ZEVs by 2045. Successfully installing ZEV fueling infrastructure is necessary to advance the state’s goals for widespread adoption of MD/HD ZEVs in rural Humboldt, Del Norte and Trinity Counties.

This section lays out the major barriers to ZEV transition and some of the strategies and programs that are available to support our region in overcoming those barriers:
• Permitting ZEV fueling infrastructure.
• Workforce development to build and maintain ZEV fueling infrastructure and to operate and maintain vehicle fleets.
• Utility collaboration and infrastructure upgrades to facilitate electricity refueling. • Concerns expressed by fleet operators regarding the cost and logistics of owning and operating a ZEV MD/HD vehicle fleet.

PERMITTING
RCEA’s research identifies some major issues with permitting related to installing ZEV fueling and charging infrastructure.

Barriers to Permitting
General categories of barriers to the permitting process are:

1. Lack of local knowledge and understanding of current codes and standards for ZEV fueling infrastructure.

2. Failure to enforce current codes and standards by local permitting agencies and Authorities Having Jurisdiction (AHJs).

3. Lack of on-line permitting process for most local permitting agencies and AHJs in the study region.

4. Need to coordinate permitting process with both local permitting agencies/AHJs and the local utility providers of transmission and distribution services (Pacific Gas & Electric in Humboldt County, Trinity Public Utilities District in Trinity County, and Pacific Power and Light in Del Norte County).

Vehicles or infrastructure
first?
In the debate about whether Zero-Emission vehicles or the fueling infrastructure should come first, in
our study region’s rural context,
robust and secure ZEV fueling
services will be required prior to
widespread ZEV adoption to enable
successful adoption and operation
of MD/HD ZEVs.
81 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 45

5. Lack of available electrical capacity from transmission and distribution utility providers.

6. Concerns around safety and standards for hydrogen transportation, storage and fueling.

Efforts to Streamline Permitting
Two main California legislative bills address Electric Vehicle Charging Station (EVCS) permit streamlining for cities and counties: Assembly Bill (AB) 1236 (Chiu, 2015), and AB 970 (McCarty, 2021).

AB 1236 requires all California Cities and Counties to develop an expedited, streamlined permitting process for EVCS. Under AB 1236, cities and counties must adopt a streamlining ordinance and permitting checklist, and jurisdictions are required to limit EVCS project review to health and safety requirements.

AB 1236 led to the creation of an EVCS Permit Streamlining Map:
https://business.ca.gov/industries/zero-emission-vehicles/plug-in-readiness/; see Figure 20. AB 1236 also led to the creation of a Permitting EVCS Scorecard: https://business.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/01/Permitting-Electric-Vehicle-Charging-Stations-Scorecard_Updated_8-12-2022.pdf. The scoring criteria are:
• Streamlining Ordinance for Expedited EVCS Permit Process • Permitting Checklists Online for L2 & DCFC
• Administrative Approval of EVCS
• Approval Limited to Health & Safety Review
• Electronic Signatures Accepted
• EVCS Not Subject to Association Approval
• One Complete Deficiency Notice if Application is
Incomplete
RCEA continues to work with Humboldt County jurisdictions to reach compliance.

AB 1236: ALL CALIFORNIA CITIES

AND COUNTIES TO DEVELOP AN

EXPEDITED, STREAMLINED EVCS
PERMITTING PROCESS.

Figure 20: Map showing study region jurisdictions with AB 1236 streamlined EVCS permitting in green, in progress in yellow, and those without a streamlined process in red.
82 46 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint AB 970 builds on AB 1236 by adding specific binding timelines to the permit review process based on number of EVCS. To comply with AB 1236 requirements and AB 970 timelines, jurisdictions are to provide one complete set of comments detailing any application deficiencies.

The review periods are determined based on the size of the proposed project.

AB 1236 and AB 970 apply to all charging station installations, including Level-1, Level-2 and DC Fast Charging; public and private charging stations; and light-, medium-, and heavy-duty EVCS.

All cities and counties, including charter cities, in California are required to comply with AB 1236 and AB 970. AB 970 will become operative on January 1, 2022 for all counties and cities with population greater than 200,000 residents and on January 1, 2023 for all counties and cities with a population less than 200,000 residents.

EVCS Permit Timelines under AB 970
1-25 EVCS at a single site:
• An EVCS permit application will be considered complete after 5 business days if the jurisdiction has not either (1) found the application to be complete or (2) issued a written deficiency notice.
• If not already approved or denied, the application will be deemed approved 20 business days after it was deemed complete if (1) the jurisdiction has not made a finding of adverse impact to health or safety, (2) the jurisdiction has not required the applicant to apply for a use permit or (3) an appeal has not been made to the planning commission. 26 or more EVCS at a single site:
• An EVCS permit application will be considered complete after 10 business days if the jurisdiction has not either (1) found the application to be complete or (2) issued a written deficiency notice.
• If not already approved or denied, the application will be deemed approved 40 business days after it was deemed complete if (1) the jurisdiction has not made a finding of adverse impact to health or safety, (2) the jurisdiction has not required the applicant to apply for a use permit or (3) an appeal has not been made to the planning commission.

Status of Streamlining in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties Within the study region, Table 12 shows the status of streamlining efforts at the county level and Table 13 shows the streamlining status for incorporated cities. Figure 20 (above) shows the AB 970: SETS SPECIFIC TIME

LIMITS FOR JURISDICTIONS TO

PROCESS EVCS PERMIT
APPLICATIONS.

IEA (2022), Grid Integration of Electric Vehicles, IEA, Paris https://www.iea.org/reports/grid-integration-of-electric-vehicles, License: CC BY 4.0 83 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 47 California Electric Vehicle Charging Station Permit Streamlining Map with the status of incorporated cities in each county; there are no incorporated cities in Trinity County.

Table 12: Summary of streamlining status for Counties of Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity.

Streamlining Element Humboldt County Del Norte County Trinity County Ordinance Yes Yes No
Checklist Yes Yes No
Admin Approval Yes Yes No
Health & Safety Yes Yes No
e-Signature Yes Yes No
No Association Yes Yes No
One Notice Yes Yes No
Table 13: Streamlining status for incorporated cities in Humboldt, Del Norte, and Trinity Counties.

Streamlining
Element
Arcata Blue
Lake
Eureka Ferndale Fortuna Rio
Dell
Trinidad Crescent
City
Ordinance Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes
Checklist No No No No No No No No
Admin
Approval
Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes
Health &
Safety
Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes
e-Signature Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes
No
Association
Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes
One Notice Yes No Yes No No Yes No Yes
84 48 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint

WORKFORCE DEVELOPMENT
The successful MD/HD ZEV transition requires education programs to retrain existing, and grow new, workers on emerging technologies, equipment and procedures.

Crucial segments of the MD/HD vehicle workforce for retraining will be vehicle operators, fleet maintenance staff, and charging and fueling technicians. Existing personnel hold extensive institutional knowledge and are an essential part of new technology rollouts since they can ease, or stall adoption based on how they embrace the effort and confront challenges. • Fleet Operators
o Facilities must accommodate a new fueling system while maintaining existing technology through the transition period.
o ZEVs and infrastructure require upfront additional capital and require budget adjustments to fleet replacement schedules.
o Operations need to manage multiple fueling sources and a mixed fleet until fossil fuel-based equipment is decommissioned.
• Vehicle Operators
o ZEVs are a new type of technology that operate differently than their internal combustion counterparts. Understanding these differences can help maximize ZEV range and reliability.
o Operating characteristics will affect route planning and schedules. • Fleet Maintenance Staff
o Maintaining ZEVs poses challenges to existing fleet maintenance staff who have long histories and extensive training on gas and diesel engines. o New diagnostic equipment will also be needed to assess maintenance needs on BEVs and FCEVs.
• Charging and Fueling Technicians
o MD/HD fleet operators will need to understand the charging needs and limitations of the BEVs that are in their fleets and size their electric vehicle charging stations to provide the correct rate of charge that is compatible with the vehicles charge control system. The charging port configuration on the vehicle will need to match the charging port configuration on the charging stations.
85 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 49 o Charge management systems will need to be put in place that will ensure that all vehicles in a fleet are charged and ready for service each day, but it will not be advantageous or even possible to charge all vehicles at one time. o Hydrogen fueling infrastructure is a very new technology and not every MD/HD fleet operator will have the need for or the ability to provide hydrogen fueling infrastructure for their vehicles.
o Those that do have a need for hydrogen infrastructure on site will need to develop an understanding of technical requirements and safety requirements of storing and dispensing hydrogen fuels.

Workforce development resources
There are many state, federal, and private resources available for workers and workforce development and training entities, summarized below. Helping to inform pending local needs, the Humboldt Transit Authority provides a course list in their fleet transition planning documentation at: http://hta.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/06/HTA-Zero-Emission-Bus-Rollout-Plan-V1.0.pdf California Energy Commission’s Clean Transportation Program The California Energy Commission’s (CEC) Clean Transportation Program provides funding to support innovation and to accelerate the development and deployment of advanced transportation and fuel technologies. They offer resources and funding for employers to assist in updating the skills of their workers that lead to good paying, long term jobs through their partnership with the Employment Training Panel (ETP): https://etp.ca.gov/.

The California Energy Commission also partners with California Community Colleges to support the Advanced Transportation and Logistics (ATL) Program. The ATL program represents an array of clean energy technologies that form a critical part of California’s strategy for reducing its climate change impact while growing the green economy by providing training resources for a skilled and clean workforce: https://atleducation.org/.

California Air Resources Board’s Adult Education & Vocations School Zero-Emission Vehicle Technology Training Project
The California Air Resources Board (CARB) makes grant funding available to support California-based, accredited, non-profit adult education or vocational schools that provide ZEV and electric vehicle charging and fueling equipment education and workforce development:
86 50 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/adult-education-vocational-school-zero-emission-vehicle-technology-training/about.

Environmental Protection Agency’s Workforce Development and Training Resources The United States Environmental Protection Agency has a very useful website dedicated to workforce development and training (https://www.epa.gov/cleanschoolbus/workforce-development-and-training-resources) which provides several useful resources for workforce development and training. For General Electric Vehicle and Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment Training, they offer:
• Electrification Professional Development (SAE International): Introduction to hybrid and electric vehicle battery systems, safety on high voltage battery systems. https://discover.sae.org/professional-development-electrification-fb#Featured-Courses • Battery Electric Bus Familiarization (Transit Training Network): Battery electric bus overview, high voltage safety considerations, battery charging approaches. https://www.transittraining.net/courseware/details/battery-electric-bus-familiarization • Electric Vehicle Training (Federal Energy Management Program): EVSE infrastructure, EV financial considerations, driving EVs, utility partnerships for fleet electrification.
https://www.transittraining.net/courseware/details/battery • First Responder Safety Training (National Fire Protection Association) https://www.nfpa.org/EV
For Vehicle Operation Training, they offer:
• Driver and Technician Training (Alternative Fuels Data Center): EV operation and charging, EV features, important dashboard indicators, charging best practices. https://afdc.energy.gov/vehicles/electric_school_buses.html#driver-training Under the topic of Installation, Maintenance, and Repair for EVs and EVSE they offer:
87 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 51 • Transportation Electrification (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers): Basic concepts of electric motors, fuel cells, electric drive trains, and battery systems. https://iln.ieee.org/Public/ContentDetails.aspx?id=A9E334131FB046819D77B07AA8 ACCD53&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIpv39kMvl-wIVhrrICh2wgQyJEAAYAiAAEgLztfD_BwE • Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program: Comprehensive training for installation of EV charging equipment.
https://evitp.org/training/
Department of Energy Trainings
The United States Department of Energy (DOE) provides training resources for electric vehicles online here: https://www.energy.gov/femp/electric-vehicle-training. The DOE offers a series of training videos at this same website that cover the following topics that can help fleet operators, EV drivers and maintenance technicians:
• EV Technology Overview
• EV Financial Considerations
• EVSE Infrastructure
• Driving Electric Vehicles
Fleet and facility managers interested in developing expertise in fleet electrification can enroll in the Federal Energy Management Program's (FEMP): fleet management training courses:
https://www.wbdg.org/continuing-education/femp-courses?field_topics_tid_selective=307&field_education_type_value_selective=OD The Department of Energy’s Electric Vehicle (EV) Champion Series is a four-part course developed by the National Renewable Energy Lab and the Federal Energy Management Program fleet team. People who complete all four webinars can earn continuing education units and a training certificate: https://www.wbdg.org/continuing-education/femp-courses/fempodw109.

Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program
The Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Training Program (EVITP) provides training and certification for electricians installing electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE). Many state and federal granting and funding agencies require that grant funded EVSE are installed by EVITP certified electricians or electrical contractors: https://evitp.org/. 88 52 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Redwood Coast Energy Authority currently provides a reimbursement process for Humboldt County electricians to get EVITP certified:
https://redwoodenergy.org/contracting/#1678742833581-533f847d-0a9b.

Community Colleges
In Humboldt County and Del Norte Counties, the College of the Redwoods offers an Associate of Science Degree in Automotive Technology and a Certificate of Achievement in Automotive Maintenance and Light Repair. Within both programs they offer classes in “Electrical and Electronics Installers and Repairers for Transportation Equipment” and “Electronic Equipment Installers and Repairers for Motor Vehicles”. They do not yet offer specialized degrees or certificates for electric vehicle maintenance or repair:
https://redwoods.elumenapp.com/catalog/2022-2023/program,automotive-technology-fall-2022#mainContent.

In Trinity County, the Shasta College satellite campus in Weaverville offers an “Associate of Science Degree in Automotive Technology” and a “Certificate of Achievement in Automotive Technology”. Within both programs they offer classes in Vehicle Electrical Systems and Introduction to Hybrid and Electric Vehicle Technology. They do not offer specialized degrees or certificates for electric vehicle maintenance or repair:
https://www.shastacollege.edu/academics/programs/automotive/. 89 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 53

UTILITY COLLABORATION
Each county in the study region is served by different electric utility service providers:
• In Humboldt County electric transmission and distribution (T&D) services are provided by Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E).
• In Del Norte County the electric utility provider is Pacific Power. • The majority of Trinity County receives electric utility service from the Trinity Public Utilities District (TPUD), but the eastern and southern portions of Trinity County are served by PG&E.

The Redwood Coast Energy Authority (lead author of this Blueprint) also serves as a Community Choice Aggregator in the study region and provides electric generation content to 93% of residents in Humboldt County. However, PG&E provides the transmission and distribution services that govern the interconnection and planning process for new Electric Vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure, so this blueprint focuses on PG&E’s programs and policies.

General best practices
Some best practices for utility collaboration are to:
• Plan for Fleet Electrification: Factors for fleet electrification planning include:
o The type and number of vehicles in the fleet,
o A timeline for transitioning to ZEVs,
o Daily vehicle miles traveled,
o ZEV charging locations,
o ZEVs charging schedules.
• Submit construction permit applications early: Permits from the city or county (or other authority having jurisdiction) will take time and permit details are often required for utility service applications.
• Apply for dedicated metered electric service for EVCS: Electric needs of EVCS often exceed existing facility electrical service capacity. An alternative to upgrading the existing electric service is to install a dedicated metered electric service for EVCS. o PG&E and Pacific power have programs to pay for infrastructure related to a dedicated service (see details in Utility Programs below).

ELECTRIFICATION FLEET PLAN:
☐ Vehicle type and number
☐ Transition timeline
☐ Daily VMT
☐ Charging locations
☐ Charging schedules
90 54 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint o A dedicated metered electric service also allows customers to designate an EV charging rate, which typically lowers the cost for EV charging compared to standard commercial building electric rates.
o Separating the new load also helps to avoid expensive demand charges on existing electric accounts.
• Submit Utility Interconnection Applications Early: Applications for new and or upgraded electric service connections can take between 9-24 months in these regions. In addition, equipment lead times for utility compliant switch gear, transformers and meter panels can delay projects.
• Apply for Commercial EV Charging Rates: Commercial EV charging rates typically offer a lower cost option for EV charging when compared to standard commercial electric rates, with off-peak and super off-peak EV rates being the lowest cost option for EV charging.

PG&E’s BEV rate does not include demand charges, which can account for a large increase in the cost of EV charging.
• Use Utility Providers Tools: Some utilities provide useful online tools to help planning for ZEV infrastructure installations.
o PG&E offers the Integration Capacity Analysis (ICA) mapping tool to help identify available capacity on their electric grid: https://www.pge.com/en_US/for-our-business-partners/distribution-resource-planning/distribution-resource-planning-data-portal.page. o PG&E also provides a link to an EVCS charger selection guide developed by Southern California Edison, the Charge Ready Approved Product List Selection and Rebate Tool:
https://app.powerbi.com/view?r=eyJrIjoiZWE0Mjg4MjctNjZiYi00MjhmLWFiYWE tMzBiODM2YTFhZTdlIiwidCI6IjViMmE4ZmVlLTRjOTUtNGJkYy04YWFlLTE5NmY4Y WFjYjFiNiIsImMiOjZ9.
• Use Utility Provider Programs: Both Pacific Power and PG&E offer programs dedicated to electric vehicle service connections.

AS OF 2023, ELECTRIC EQUIPMENT,

INCLUDING TYPICAL STOCK ITEMS

SUCH AS METER SOCKETS AND

PEDESTALS, CAN HAVE LEAD TIMES
OF 12 MONTHS OR LONGER.
91 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 55 o In Del Norte County, Pacific Power offers the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Line Extension program. Pacific Power’s Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Rule 24 will pay for and coordinate the design and deployment of service extensions from their electrical distribution line facilities to the service delivery point for separately metered EVCS;
see Figure 21.
o In Humboldt County and parts of Trinity County, PG&E offers Rule 29 EV Infrastructure Planning Rule. Under this program, PG&E will cover the costs of utility-side electric distribution infrastructure supporting separately metered EV charging.

Figure 23 (next page) shows a breakdown of utility and
customer owned infrastructure under the PG&E program.
o In Humboldt and parts of Trinity County PG&E also offers the EV Fleet Program. Similar to the Rule 29 EV Infrastructure Rule, PG&E will cover the costs of utility-side electric distribution infrastructure supporting separately
metered EV charging. In addition to covering the cost of “to-the-meter” infrastructure, the EV Fleet Program
provides various funding levels for behind-the-meter;
see Figure 22.

Figure 21: Breakdown of utility and customer owned infrastructure under the Pacific Power program
Figure 22: Breakdown of utility and customer owned infrastructure and additional incentives under the PG&E Fleet Program
92 56 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Accelerate utility interconnection timelines
For EV charging infrastructure the electric grid is an essential factor for rapid deployment. Current challenges for new infrastructure projects include:
• MD/HD charging infrastructure is typically larger than most utility connections, and utilities need time to work out these more complex projects. 12
• New projects are currently experiencing 18-24 months
to receive utility connection, and delays may last for 5 years or more in congested areas.
• A scarcity in electrical equipment components, mostly from a lack of specialized steel. In 2023 material order times have gone from weeks to months, and in some cases exceeding a year to procure.

Some ideas to help reduce future delays:
• Conduct dedicated grid planning to identify necessary infrastructure upgrades to support a fully built-out fleet. One example is the two-year study of electric trucking charging needs in the Northeast to develop a 20-year demand forecast for over 100 potential charging sites in the region13.
• Assess if new infrastructure is upstream or downstream of major transmission grid loads.
• If a new substation is probable in key locations, start planning early since it can take up to five years or longer to build.
12 “I-5 Electric Truck Charging Sites Mapped Out by Electric Utilities”; https://westcoastcleantransit.com/resources/WestCoastCleanTransitNewsRelease-Website.pdf 13 https://www.utilitydive.com/news/national-grid-electric-trucking-charging-needs-study/696668/ Figure 23: Overview of PG&E Infrastructure Planning Rule Program ownership 93 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 57

FLEET OPERATOR CONCERNS
There are significant challenges that MD/HD fleet owners and operators face when making the transition to ZEVs. This blueprint identifies five major areas of concern expressed by fleet operators/managers regarding the transition to ZEVs:
• Vehicle Availability
• Vehicle Cost
• Vehicle Range Limitations
• Availability of Charging and Fueling Infrastructure
• Vehicle Maintenance
These resources are currently available to partially address the concerns:
• ZEV TruckStop is a one-stop website provided by CARB and provides a range of resources including information about vehicle availability, vehicle incentives, and infrastructure funding. The site can be accessed here: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/truckstop-resources/zev-truckstop • Cal Fleet Advisor, also a CARB resource, provides guidance to California trucking fleets owners and operators at no cost, including referrals to products, services, and funding opportunities. The site can be accessed here: https://calfleetadvisor.org/ • Zero-Emission Truck Loan Pilot Project, a collaborative effort from CARB, the CEC, and the California Pollution Control Financing Authority, provides loan funding assistance to small business owners that are transitioning to Zero-Emission heavy-duty vehicles.

Program information can be found here: https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/our-work/programs/zero-emission-truck-loan-pilot • Commercial Clean Vehicle Federal Tax Credit provides tax credits up to $40,000 to businesses and tax-exempt organizations that buy a qualified Zero-Emission vehicle.

More information can be found here: https://www.irs.gov/credits-deductions/commercial-clean-vehicle-credit • California’s Hybrid Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Program (HVIP) provides point-of-sale vouchers to help discount the cost of ZEVs. They offer a range of resources including a vehicle catalog, dealer lists and funding updates. Program information can be found here: https://californiahvip.org/ 94 58 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint • Energy Infrastructure Incentives for Zero-Emission Commercial Vehicles (EnergIIZE Commercial Vehicles) provides incentives for electric vehicle charging infrastructure and hydrogen fueling infrastructure for California commercial fleet operators. They offer a range of funding opportunities; more program information can be found here:
https://www.energiize.org/
Beyond program resources, truck, bus and other medium- and heavy-duty vehicle manufacturers also provide these sources for trucks, buses, and equipment:
• Blue Bird Electric School Buses: https://www.blue-bird.com/buses/electric-school-buses • Lion Class 8: https://thelionelectric.com/en/products/electric_truck_class8 • Lion Electric School Buses: https://thelionelectric.com/en/products/electric_school_bus • Freightliner Electric Trucks: https://www.freightliner.com/trucks/#category=Electric • Freightliner eM2 Delivery Truck:
https://www.freightliner.com/trucks/em2/specifications/#tab-6 • Mack LR Electric: https://info.macktrucks.com/refuse-revolution?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_content=mack%20semi%20tr uck&utm_campaign=20188275807&gad=1&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI3NDxi4etgAMVAgitBh0 y2gz2EAAYASABEgJeyvD_BwE
• Mack Truck MD Electric: https://www.macktrucks.com/trucks/md-electric/ • Peterbilt Electric Vehicles: https://www.peterbilt.com/electric-vehicles • Volvo Electric Trucks: https://www.volvotrucks.us/trucks/vnr-electric/specifications/ • Volvo Electric Construction Equipment: https://www.volvoce.com/united-states/en-us/products/electric-machines/ Cost Barriers Are a Primary Concern
While some fleet operators recognize environmental benefits, total cost of ownership (TCO) remains a central decision tool. Although ZEVs benefit from lower operating costs, up-front costs cause hesitation particularly for operators with limited working capital. As one recent 95 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 59 article observes, “This industry is very, very old-school, very, very conservative. You’ll see pushback from them until TCO becomes positive operating the vehicles.” 14 Reducing the upfront costs will help to achieve parity with traditional vehicles and enable a smoother transition to ZEVs. The same article highlights that once total cost of ownership becomes positive, ZEVs become a preferred choice.

Potential Cost Solutions
The West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Initiative summarizes that to date, “electric utility infrastructure programs that support MD/HD EVs have primarily focused on fleets that charge at a single location (usually their home base). Expanding these programs to support charging for fleets that travel along corridors and rely on public fueling stations could further accelerate electric truck adoption.” See Figure 17 for an example at an AC Transit station in Emeryville, CA.

Site infrastructure costs remain difficult to predict, with variables such as location characteristics, electric circuit capacity, utility upgrades, permits, and labor and equipment costs. Since sites require targeted, detailed assessments, technical assistance funding can provide preliminary screening and create an inventory of shovel-ready projects. By using grant funding, this sunk cost can be distributed across a portfolio rather than borne on a project-by-project basis.

CARB is currently offering $83 million in incentives for smaller fleets seeking to buy Classes 2b-8 electric trucks15. CARB is also proposing changes to its Low Carbon Fuel Standard to create a provision to support medium and heavy-duty Zero-Emission vehicle (ZEV) refueling infrastructure16.

Policy makers can accelerate market adoption and transformation through subsidies, a familiar topic for California decision-makers. To help ease the transitions, mandates, and regulations it is 14 Clearing the roadblocks to electrification of heavy-duty trucks; https://chargedevs.com/features/vehicle-features/clearing-the-roadblocks-to-electrification-of-heavy-duty-trucks/ 15 https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/resources/fact-sheets/innovative-small-e-fleet-pilot-program 16 https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/sites/default/files/2023-09/lcfs_sria_2023_0.pdf “COMMERCIAL EVS HAVE BEEN ON

THE JOB FOR YEARS NOW, AT

DOZENS OF COMPANIES, IN JUST

ABOUT EVERY CONCEIVABLE USE
CASE, AND THEY’VE PROVEN THAT

THEY CAN DO THE JOB BETTER,

QUIETER, MORE SAFELY AND
ABOVE ALL, CHEAPER.”14
96 60 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint crucial that fleet operators can benefit from incentives and rebates to balance real and perceived challenges of shifting toward clean fleets.

Availability of Refueling Infrastructure
Fleet operators recognize ZEV mandates but raise questions on when and how infrastructure will be deployed to support operations:
• Address property owner role in deploying fueling infrastructure: Many fleets lease rather than own their properties, which limits their ability to perform site modifications.

This requires landowners to consider the cost and responsibility to install charging infrastructure.
• Evaluate EV charging as primary use: As of 2023 EV charging is rarely the primary use of a property. A next step is to develop zoning codes at the municipal level to prepare for higher-density, higher-speed charging infrastructure.
• Need for standards: Standards can support electrification by establishing consistent practices for safety, fuel dispensing, interoperability, training, data management, and so on. This creates a predictable fueling experience for all participants. 97 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 61 Actions to Accelerate ZEV
Adoption
This section summarizes barriers identified throughout this blueprint along with potential actions, followed by discussions of several broad considerations such as electric grid capacity and economic changes in the region. Along with industry-wide barriers, rural stakeholders also need to address issues around isolation and distance from major markets. • Permitting
o Finalize AB 1236 permitting compliance.
o Train staff on AB 970 requirements and establish compliance metrics. o Work with state policymakers to address challenges around lack of enforcement.
o Secure funding to develop on-line permitting processes for regional agencies. o Seek state-level safety and other standards for hydrogen transportation, storage, and fueling.
• Workforce Development
o Host a working group for operators and managers to share information, voice concerns, obtain support, and advance shared interests within the region. o Develop regionally accessible curriculum and programs at regional institutions from high school through university level.
o Establish training stipends to compensate existing operators for time away from work.
o Host technology workshops on ZEV operations, maintenance, route planning, and refueling methods.
o Encourage manufacturers to reinvest in regional authorized repair facilities and associated training, potentially using rural economic development funds. “ALTHOUGH HEAVY-DUTY TRUCKS
ACCOUNT FOR ONLY 5 PERCENT OF

THE VEHICLES ON US ROADS, THEY

CONTRIBUTE A DISPROPORTIONATELY
HIGH 23 PERCENT OF ALL
TRANSPORTATION EMISSIONS.”
West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Final Report
98 62 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint o Seek opportunities to align workforce development goals with other regional industry efforts such as grid resilience and port revitalization. o Conduct ZEV first responder training.
• Infrastructure Siting and Placement
o Conduct an in-depth study of physical siting opportunities using the Blueprint station placement maps.
o Secure funding for key demonstration sites to “lead by example”; see “Early-Adopter Fleet and Fueling Placement” for example projects. o Establish a technical assistance fund to support site design and engineering, utility feasibility studies, and related deliverables to create shovel-ready projects.
o Develop a portfolio of shovel-ready sites and pursue implementation grant funding.
o Identify early adopter locations, particularly for public/private collaborations. o Promote and identify potential public off-takers for the pending Humboldt Transit Authority hydrogen fueling station.
o Seek state agency collaborative opportunities to host hydrogen fueling stations (fleet-only access or public retail) on state-owned property centrally located relative to multiple government fleets (local, state, and federal). o To stimulate private investment, encourage the California Department of General Services to communicate planned FCEV purchases to the California Fuel Cell Partnership, car manufacturers and station developers. • Utility Collaboration
o Work with utilities to investigate options for rapid, low-cost site screening for new electrical loads at existing facilities.
o Prepare a North Coast grid infrastructure plan that identifies infrastructure upgrade requirements for a fully built-out MD/HD fleet. o Identify any locations with surplus grid capacity, such as former mill sites, that could host local hydrogen production.
o Identify energy storage system locations that could serve as high-power charging hubs in parallel with transmission and distribution capacity needs. “MOST UTILITIES IN CALIFORNIA,

OREGON AND WASHINGTON HAVE

ENOUGH CAPACITY IN URBAN
AREAS ALONG I-5 TO SUPPORT

INTERCONNECTIONS WITH THE
MEDIUM-DUTY CHARGING SITES.

RURAL AREAS ARE MORE OF A

CHALLENGE AND NONE OF THE

RURAL AREAS CURRENTLY HAVE

CAPACITY TO SERVE HEAVY-DUTY
SITE DEVELOPMENT.”
99 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 63 • Total Cost of Ownership
o Evaluate opportunities for public-private infrastructure siting, such as “over the fence” public refueling at government agency facilities that can serve as anchor sites.
o Secure and provide technical assistance funds and project management to provide preliminary site screening and reduce sunk costs for prospective infrastructure sites. Screening may include siting characteristics, electric circuit capacity, utility upgrades, permitting, and projected labor and equipment costs.

This is a preferred option since it provides busy fleet operators with temporary skilled labor for short-term planning efforts.
o Alternately, provide subsidies to cover targeted activities needed to meet upcoming mandates and regulations.
• Market Acceptance
o Host regional vehicle expos and ride-and-drive events. o Provide scholarships for regional operators to attend west coast events such as the Advanced Clean Transportation Expo.
o Distribute a fleet electrification handbook to guide operators through the various steps from planning to implementation.
o Conduct fleet electrification workshops to introduce principles and walk through example projects. Preferably include fieldtrips as early sites become available. o Promote technology advances for equipment that can tackle rural route characteristics, including expanded range, temperature, and elevation capacity. • General Market Initiatives
o Develop model zoning codes at the municipal level to prepare for higher-density, higher-speed charging infrastructure (EV charging as primary use). o Develop incentives for landowners to install charging infrastructure for fleet tenants.
o Monitor progress on West Coast Truck Charging and Fueling Corridor and promote similar concept for feeder routes.
o Establish industry standards for safety, fuel dispensing, interoperability, training, data management, and so on.
• Secure funding to provide technical assistance for fleet analysis and infrastructure plans.

IN A NOVEL CONCEPT, WattEV IS
DEVELOPING A “TRUCKS AS A SERVICE”
MODEL. THIS REMOVES DEVELOPMENT

RISK FROM THE TRANSPORTERS FOR

BOTH THE ZEV AND CHARGING
INFRASTRUCTURE.

IN OCTOBER 2023, MACK TRUCKS

ANNOUNCED A LEASING OPTION THAT

BUNDLES CHASSIS AND BODY, CHARGING,

INCENTIVES, INSURANCE AND
MAINTENCE INTO A “PAY AS YOU GO”
OFFERING BASED ON MILES DRIVEN. IT

ALSO OFFERS ASSISTANCE FOR CHARGING

INFRASTRUCTURE DESIGN,

CONSTRUCTION, AND OPERATING
SOFTWARE.
100
64 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint • Hold a regional vehicle expo, preferably as part of a broader west coast tour. • To maximize equipment uptime and avoid costly repair delays, develop, and incentivize quality standards to emphasize quality over initial cost. • Promote technical design for cost-effective field repairs and maintenance. • Establish regional supply depots.

The electric grid is a mature market, but also includes decades of maintenance and upgrade issues. The Department of Energy cites that we may need to triple new electrical load capacity as transportation and buildings shift away from fossil fuels17. As MD/HD ZEVs add new load they will compete with all other decarbonization efforts. Finally, climate change is heavily testing the aging electric grid and forcing an increased focus on redesign, hardening, and monitoring to adapt to evolving conditions. Options to address these challenges:
• Identify opportunities to combine local energy generation and storage with vehicle charging infrastructure.
o This is particularly useful to reduce demand charges and peak times of day since batteries can charge during lower-cost periods and top off vehicles as needed. o Onsite generation such as solar adds resilience when the grid is down or unstable by ensuring at least a minimum electrical resource every day. o Combining these technologies sets the stage for future resilience options through vehicle-to-building integration.
• Conduct a feasibility study to determine existing capacity and additional requirements for electric infrastructure upgrades.
• Secure funding to upgrade the electric grid to support MD/HD EV charging requirements.
• Assess fleet facilities for self-generation and storage opportunities.

As a new fueling technology lacking the ubiquity of the electric grid, hydrogen adoption would benefit from targeted activities such as to:
17 https://www.energy.gov/articles/biden-administration-launches-25-billion-fund-modernize-and-expand-capacity-americas-power “INDEPENDENT ESTIMATES INDICATE

THAT WE NEED TO EXPAND ELECTRICITY
TRANSMISSION SYSTEMS BY 60% BY 2030,
AND MAY NEED TO TRIPLE IT BY 2050 TO
MEET THE COUNTRY’S INCREASE IN

RENEWABLE GENERATION AND
EXPANDING ELECTRIFICATION NEEDS.”
U.S. Department of Energy
101
North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 65 • Work with manufacturers to broaden technical capacity beyond initial market opportunities such as flat, limited-range urban routes. For example, the Humboldt Transit Agency is working with one manufacturer to redesign their buses to cope with the broader range, temperature and terrain requirements typically found in rural regions.
• Work to ensure that rural regions receive infrastructure funding to ensure a fully functional freight network beyond just major freight lines.

Although some of these efforts can be solved by private business, others require dedicated government funding to avoid exacerbating equity gaps in rural regions.

Capture other sectors
This blueprint provides a pathway forward for a sizeable share of transportation-related emissions, but there are several other economic sectors that need attention including:
• Offroad vehicles: The study region includes extensive state and national land ownership. This increases the percentage of offroad vehicles contributing to emissions as CARB and other efforts improve on-road transportation. See Figure 24 for an example of extensive state land ownership in Del Norte County. • Non-drayage maritime: offshore short sea shipping, fishing, and research activities will increase in their proportional share of GHG emission as terrestrial sources diminish.

Figure 24: Del Norte County state land ownership
102
66 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Prepare for economic development
This blueprint focuses on existing needs of the study region, but the north coast holds potential for dramatic growth in heavy industry as home to a world-class offshore wind resource. As an unobstructed deep-water port, Humboldt Bay is well suited to serve as a western seaboard offshore wind industry. Plans are underway at the local, state, and national level to unlock the potential of this renewable energy resource.

One consequence is an initiative to revitalize the Port of Humboldt Bay into a heavy-lift terminal for deploying ocean-based energy resources along the coast. This has major implications for MD/HD inventories and will add new categories of vehicles for drayage, construction, quayside support. A blueprint update will be necessary as the offshore wind industry gains momentum.

ZEV workforce development shares many attributes with other clean energy initiatives. As the home to a Community Choice Aggregator, Humboldt County stands to benefit from efforts to grow local renewable energy and storage projects and to improve local energy resilience and reliability. Given the regional isolation, it is essential to develop and sustain a local skilled workforce to build robust and knowledgeable communities and minimize downtime. Actions to support ZEV workforce development are to:
• Inventory projected jobs and associated skills for various clean transportation roles. • Secure funding to develop and conduct targeted workshops and certification programs. • Work with local labor experts to identify career transition requirements and goals for existing transportation workers.
• Work with existing community colleges and universities to develop vocational and university programs in clean transportation careers.

In parallel with offshore wind developments along the western seaboard, Del Norte will likely experience increased port activities such as tug and maintenance services for offshore wind facilities best served out of Crescent City Harbor. The Humboldt County port revitalization will also likely bring economic benefits to Trinity County such as through freight movement and associated services along highway 299.

AN ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT FOUND

THAT REVITALIZING THE PORT OF

HUMBOLDT BAY COULD GENERATE
AS MANY AS 830 LOCAL JOBS AND
MORE THAN $130 MILLION IN

INDUSTRY OUTPUT OVER A FIVE-YEAR
PERIOD.
103
North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 67 Change is a constant
Our transportation system is at a crossroad where it must cope with ongoing uncertainties of climate change while simultaneously transforming primary fueling sources and methods. This complex situation requires flexibility and patience to recognize and adapt to factors such as:
• Autonomous vehicles: some form of vehicle autonomy is likely in the next decade, and will have a direct impact on road design, operator behavior, refueling, and so on. • Rapidly evolving fuel technology: the hydrogen fueling industry is still in its infancy, and the best applications remain uncertain as manufacturers evolve their fueling and power delivery system design and markets identify viable applications for each. • Grid capacity: shifting from fossil fuel will place considerable strain on the national electric grid as myriad economic sectors migrate to electric power. • New labor skills required: zero-emission vehicles require new skills to maintain and service emerging powertrains, braking systems, sensors, energy storage, and so on. • Mixed fleet assets: fleet operators and managers will face extra complexity while they handle a mix of internal-combustion and ZEV assets for the next decade. 104
68 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Closing Thought
Transportation systems are by nature an interconnected web and require systematic planning and investment across a broad network of routes, fueling, and supply and repair services.

Although remote settings often have small communities and limited services, they deliver essential connectivity for intrastate and interstate commerce.

In our national economic system, it may be simpler to conduct transformational work in a setting with abundant capital, skilled workers, and resources, but overall progress requires extra attention to build and sustain rural capacity. With limited ability to attract and retain private enterprise, rural regions will require heightened state-level investment to ensure that the transportation system transitions as a whole.

Photo Credits: All vehicle images - the respective manufacturer; cover page Ford Motor Company; Table of Contents Volvo FE Truck; page iv Humboldt Transit Agency; page 2 Freightliner eCascadia dashboard image; page 3 Clean Transportation Program; page 5 AdobeStock; page 12 Lion C school bus; page 14 Mack LR Truck; page 16 Volvo FE dump truck, page 17 freightliner em2, page 20 General Motors BrightDrop, page 26 ChargePoint EV Charging stock photo; page 27 AdobeStock hydrogen fleet fueling; page 29 AdobeStock fleet charging; pages 38, 39, 42, 43 Google Maps; page 43 Freightliner em2; page 48 Thomas School Bus; page 50 Ford Motor Company; page 52 Pierce Manufacturing Volterra Firetruck; page 53 Freightliner em2 bucket truck; page 57 Thomas School Bus dashboard image; page 58 Nikola AT 7503 dashboard image; page 60 Thomas School Bus; page 61 Freightliner eCascadia; page 67 Nikola BEV/FCEV Port Hero; page 68 Caltrans; page 71 Volvo FEV Truck; and back cover - RCEA.
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North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 69

GLOSSARY
Term/ Acronym Definition
AB Assembly Bill
AC Alternating Current, Flow of electricity that constantly changes direction between positive and negative sides
ACF Advanced Clean Fleets
ACT Advanced Clean Trucks
ASB Airport Shuttle Bus
BEV Battery Electric Vehicle
Caltrans California Department of Transportation, responsible for the design, construction, maintenance, and operation of California State Highway System
CAP Climate Action Plan
CARB California Air Resources Board, the state agency responsible for protecting the public from harmful effects of air pollution and developing programs and actions to fight climate change
CEC California Energy Commission, the state agency responsible for energy policy
CTP Clean Transportation Program, formerly known as Alternative and Renewable Fuel and Vehicle Technology Program
CBO Community Based Organization
DC Direct Current, a charge of electricity that flows in one direction and is the type of power that comes from a battery
EMFAC California Air Resources Board’s Emissions Factor database EO Executive Order
EV Electric Vehicle
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70 North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint Term/ Acronym Definition
EVCS Electric Vehicle Charging Station
FCEV Fuel Cell Electric Vehicle
GHG Greenhouse Gas Emissions
GVWR Gross Vehicle Weight Rating, the maximum loaded weight of a vehicle, including passengers, cargo and the vehicle itself
GW Gigawatt
GWH Gigawatt-Hour
HCAOG Humboldt County Association of Governments
HD Heavy-Duty
HTA Humboldt Transit Authority
ICE Internal Combustion Engine
ICT Innovative Clean Transit
MD Medium-Duty
MT Metric Tons
MW Megawatt
MWH Megawatt-Hour
NCUAQMD North Coast Unified Air Quality Management District NREL National Renewable Energy Lab
OPR Governor’s Office of Planning and Research, the State’s comprehensive planning agency
OEM Original Equipment Manufacturer
PG&E Pacific Gas and Electric
RCEA The Redwood Coast Energy Authority
RTP Regional Transportation Plan
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North Coast Medium-Duty/Heavy-Duty Zero Emission Vehicle Readiness Blueprint 71 Term/ Acronym Definition
SB Senate Bill
SERC Schatz Energy Research Center
TCO Total Cost of Ownership
TPUD Trinity Public Utilities District
US EPA United States Environmental Protection Agency
V Volt
VMT Vehicle Miles Traveled
ZEB Zero-Emission Bus
ZEV Zero-Emission Vehicle
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Redwood Coast Energy Authority
633 3rd Street
Eureka CA, 95501
707-269-1700
[email protected]
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STAFF REPORT
Agenda Item # 8.1
AGENDA DATE: December 21, 2023
TO: Board of Directors
FROM: Eileen Verbeck, Deputy Executive Director
SUBJECT: Deputy Executive Director’s Report

SUMMARY
Deputy Executive Director Eileen Verbeck will provide updates on topics as needed, including upcoming Community Advisory Committee term endings and the conversion of two at-large seats to Yurok Tribe and Blue Lake Rancheria nominee seats.

RECOMMENDED ACTION
None. (Information only.)
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