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City of Fortuna P.O. Box 545 – Fortuna, CA 95540
www.friendlyfortuna.com – (707) 725-7600
May 30, 2023
U.S. Department of Transportation
FHWA, Office of Planning, Environment and Realty (HEP)
Attn: Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Opportunity (NOFO 693JJ323NF00004) 1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
Washington, DC 20590
To whom it may concern,
The City of Fortuna is pleased to offer this letter of commitment to partner with the Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) on their proposed North Coast Plug-In Electric Vehicle Charging Network Phase 3 through the Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Grant Opportunity’s Community Grant Program (U.S. Department of Transportation Notice of Funding Opportunity 693JJ323NF00004).
Pending final site design evaluations, the City of Fortuna is willing to serve as a site host for a Level 2 Electric Vehicle Charging Station located at 1800 Riverwalk Drive, and 2700 Newburg Road in Fortuna, CA to support and catalyze the adoption of zero emissions vehicles in Humboldt County. The station will be added to RCEA’s existing electric vehicle charging station network and the City of Fortuna and RCEA will sign a Memorandum of Understanding to ensure the site and the charging station are well-maintained, safe, and easily accessible to community members 24 hours a day.
Redwood Coast Energy Authority (RCEA) is a local government Joint Powers Authority founded in 2003 whose members include the Yurok Tribe, the County of Humboldt, the Cities of Arcata, Blue Lake, Eureka, Ferndale, Fortuna, Rio Dell, and Trinidad, and the Humboldt Bay Municipal Water District. The purpose of RCEA is 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 for the benefit of the Member agencies and their constituents. RCEA also administers Humboldt County’s Community Choice Aggregation program, acting as the load serving entity for 93% of Humboldt County’s electric accounts, and as such endeavors to identify and provide clean energy resilience solutions to vulnerable communities and critical facilities and make electric vehicle charging accessible to all.
RCEA has operated and maintained a network of publicly available charging stations since 2016 which currently has 27 stations offering 52 Level-2 charging ports across Humboldt County.
Humboldt County is rural, geographically isolated, and low-income as defined by State laws; Humboldt is also home to various tribes including the Wiyot, Karuk, Hoopa, and Yurok. Many P a g e 2 | 2
Humboldt communities experience power outages as a result of aging grid infrastructure and deenergization due to wildfire and other severe weather events. The location of this charging station at Newburg Park and the River Lodge, owned by the City of Fortuna will allow the site to expand access to EV vehicle charging infrastructure within rural Humboldt County and expand access to EV charging infrastructure within low- and moderate-income neighborhoods.
Installing a mix of DC Fast Chargers and higher-capacity Level-2 EV charging stations will improve Humboldt County’s EV charging network and benefit our community by meeting the increased charging demands of newer EVs with larger battery banks that provide range security to EV drivers in our rural setting while offering a wider range of charging options for the EV driving public. These higher capacity charging stations will also help support Medium-Duty and Heavy-Duty (MD/HD) fleet and transit vehicles in Humboldt County as these fleet operators work to meet the State of California’s ambitious goal of converting our MD/HD fleet to Zero Emission Vehicles. This transition will require robust and redundant charging options across our rural landscape.
The City of Fortuna looks forward to engaging as a project partner and supporting the RCEA team in this important effort. Please don’t hesitate to contact me at 707-725-7600 or [email protected] if you have any questions or would like any additional information.
Sincerely,
Merritt Perry, City Manager
City of Fortuna