STAFF REPORT
Meeting Date:
August 4, 2026
BUSINESS
21 SUBJECT: AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
IMPLEMENTATION
RECOMMENDATION: It is recommended that the City Council:
1. Receive a presentation on this agenda item for discussion purposes. Then, if the Council wishes, proceed with Recommended Actions 2-6.
2. Authorize the City Manager to execute contracts with PowerFlex Systems for the design, construction and 10-year operation and maintenance period for electric vehicle charging infrastructure, including Corporation Yard $5,253,276.15, City Hall – General Fleet: $1,915,017.16, and City Hall – Police Department: $1,075,281.37;
3. Authorize the City Manager to execute agreements with Southern California Edison under the Charge Ready Transport Program to secure rebates for electric vehicle infrastructure, including Corporation Yard $630,334, City Hall – General Fleet: $145,146, and City Hall – Police Department: $114,675;
4. Authorize the transfer of $4,995,500 from the Future Parking Facilities and Mobility Project (C2216) to the Electrical Vehicle Charging Implementation Project (C2719);
5. Authorize the transfer of $427,555 from the Future City Facilities Funding Project (C1904)) to the Electrical Vehicle Charging Implementation Project (C2719); and
6. Find that the proposed actions are exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301, 15303, 15304 and 15311.
SUMMARY OF THE MATTER
Attachment 1
AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
IMPLEMENTATION
August 4, 2026
At its meeting on June 27, 2023, the City Council accepted the Fleet Electrification and Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure Master Plan and directed staff to procure charging infrastructure. By leveraging the Southern California Edison (SCE) Charge Ready Transport Program (CRT) the City can reduce these incremental costs.
The proposed action prioritizes the installation of 47 electric vehicle chargers at two City facilities, City Hall and the Corporation Yard, to support the transition of 122 City vehicles to electric by 2030. The three contracts are structured as follows: (i) one for the Corp Yard; (ii) one for City Hall Police EV Chargers; (iii)one for City Hall non-Police EV Chargers. The total cost for PowerFlex to perform this work is $8,243,574.68. The City of Laguna Beach applied for and was approved to receive rebates through SCE’s CRT rebate program. This program provides support for utility-side upgrades, make-ready infrastructure, and charging equipment, particularly for medium- and heavy-duty fleet vehicles. The City was awarded a total of $890,155 in CRT rebates, including $630,334 for the Corp Yard and $259,821 for City Hall. These funds will reduce the City’s out-of-pocket costs for installing EV chargers and related infrastructure, supporting the near-term transition of 122 vehicles.
Staff is recommending the City Council authorize the City Manager to execute contracts with PowerFlex Systems in the total amount of $8,243,574.68 and to execute agreements with Southern California Edison under the Charge Ready Transport Program to secure rebates for City fleet EV infrastructure at the Corporation Yard and City Hall.
DISCUSSION
As of June 2024, the City of Laguna Beach operated a fleet of 185 vehicles, consisting of:
• 140 gasoline-powered vehicles
• 19 diesel-powered vehicles
• 25 propane-powered public transit trolleys
• 1 electric vehicle (a golf cart)
To guide the transition to zero-emission vehicles, the City consulted with ICF to analyze the City’s operational needs and provide recommendations for transitioning to electric vehicle replacements. The replacement process has been organized into two key milestones:
• Immediate Term (2026–2030): The initial phase of vehicle replacements, aiming to transition 130 City vehicles to electric models.
• Long-term (2026–2039): Full fleet electrification of City’s fleet.
A key component to support fleet transition is the development of charging infrastructure for the new electric vehicles. ICF conducted a detailed analysis of the City’s fleet operations, parking locations, and vehicle schedules to determine the type, number, and location of chargers needed. To enhance efficiency, dual-port chargers (capable of charging two vehicles simultaneously) were recommended as the most effective solution for the City. To handle the increased power demand from the chargers, upgrades to the City’s electrical infrastructure were identified, including transformer capacity, electrical panel sizes, and new conduit installations. These upgrades will ensure that the new charging stations function reliably.
AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
IMPLEMENTATION
August 4, 2026
To support the implementation of the Fleet Electrification, staff issued an RFP in May 2025 for “Design, Engineering, Procurement, and Construction of Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE)” at City Hall and the Corp Yard. The RFP sought a qualified contractor to provide turnkey services, including project management, site design, permitting, utility coordination, procurement of EVSE, installation, commissioning, and integration of a charging management system.
The City received nine proposals in response to the RFP. A comprehensive evaluation process was conducted based on proposer qualifications, relevant project experience, technical approach, project timeline, cost proposal, and long-term support.
Following the evaluation, PowerFlex Systems was selected as the preferred contractor. PowerFlex demonstrated strong experience in delivering municipal EV infrastructure projects across Southern California, including similar deployments for Los Angeles County and Santa Barbara County. Their proposed team offered in-depth technical expertise, and their approach demonstrated a clear understanding of the City’s operational needs. Most notably, PowerFlex was determined to be the most cost-effective and best overall value for the City. Staff recommends award of contract to PowerFlex in the form of agreement
AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
IMPLEMENTATION
August 4, 2026
included as Attachments 2, 3, and 4. Please note that PowerFlex did have some requested modifications to the City’s Design-Build contract. These requested changes are summarized as follows:
• Reduced the amount of liquidated damages from $500/day to $250/day. Further, excluded from days where liquidated damages apply are delays caused from permitting delays by the City, SCE or other permitting agency. Finally, liquidated damages are capped at 5% of each contract (see below for value of each of the three contracts).
• Overall liability is limited by the amount of each contract sans willful misconduct or fraud. • The City’s Corp Yard blackout dates excluded from Project schedule deadlines. • PowerFlex entitled to extra compensation for holiday work or work outside normal business hours that increase their costs.
To offset the cost of EV charging infrastructure, staff submitted applications to SCE for their CRT Program.
The applications covered the Corporation Yard and City Hall (General Fleet and Police Department). The applications have been approved by SCE. Following approval, SCE conducted detailed site visits and has now provided the City with draft contracts for each location (Attachments 4, 6, and 7). The rebates offered through the CRT program are as follows:
• Corporation Yard: $630,334
• City Hall – General Fleet: $145,146
• City Hall – Police Department: $114,675
Together, these rebates total $890,155, which will offset the City’s EV infrastructure costs. These incentives will support the installation of 47 EV chargers across the two sites as described below. • City Hall: 16 chargers to support 54 vehicles
• Corporation Yard: 31 chargers to support 68 vehicles
• Total Cost: $5,423,054.68 (not including 10-year O&M) • CRT Rebates from SCE: $890,155
• Net Cost to the City: Approximately $4.53 million
Next Steps
Staff are now recommending the City Council approve and authorize the City Manager to execute a contract with PowerFlex Systems, appropriate the required funding, and execute the three rebate agreements with Southern California Edison. Once approved, charger installation is expected to be completed within 18 months. Prior to final commissioning of the EV charging equipment, the City and Powerflex will enter into separate software services agreements for the operation of the EV Charging stations.
Alternatives to Consider
The City Council may decide to proceed with all, some, or none of the proposed locations. The costs for each site are as broken down in the table below and individual contracts are proposed for each. If the City Council decides not to proceed with a specific site, the transition to electric vehicles will be delayed.
AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
IMPLEMENTATION
August 4, 2026
Importantly, moving forward with this proposal may screen out other capital projects, given that the $4.53 million in funding would come from sources from which other projects might be considered, like those in the Facilities Management Plan (FMP) and the fund set aside for parking facility improvements. The Council may wish to consider where the EV effort lands within that context.
City Hall -
Police
City Hall -
Non-Police Corp Yard Total
Section Total Cost ($) Total Cost ($) Total Cost ($) Total Cost ($) Design &
Permitting $66,958.37 $68,060.19 $80,928.00 $215,946.56 Hardware $267,066.00 $520,344.97 $992,107.15 $1,779,518.12 Construction $381,982.00 $607,247.00 $2,377,236.00 $3,366,465.00 Commissioning $11,825.00 $19,325.00 $29,975.00 $61,125.00 O&M $347,450.00 $700,040.00 $1,773,030.00 $2,820,520.00 TOTAL
COST $1,075,281.37 $1,915,017.16 $5,253,276.15 $8,243,574.68
FINANCIAL ANALYSIS
The recommended actions require $5,423,055 for Powerflex to design and install the charging infrastructure at all three locations. This is the result of subtracting the ongoing O&M costs from the other costs in the above table. The SCE Charge Ready program will offset this cost by $890,155.
The project design, construction, and commissioning is proposed to be funded with $4,995,500 from the Future Parking Facilities and Mobility project (Account 6183130C-81000-C2216) and $427,555 from the Future City Facilities Funding project (Account 6163130C-81000-C1904). As noted, this means that the EV project will compete with things like the FMP’s projects and future parking facility improvements.
The additional cost of $2,820,520 for O&M will need to be budgeted in the annual Public Works operating budget over the ten-year period (so roughly $280,000 per year) following the completion of the project.
We have not identified sources or substitutions for this annual amount. Yet to be known is the extent to which any savings from lower gas and diesel purchases will be offset by the costs of electricity.
ENVIRONMENTAL ANALYSIS
AWARD OF CONTRACT FOR FLEET ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
IMPLEMENTATION
August 4, 2026
The proposed actions are exempt under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines section 15301, this exemption applies to the minor alteration of existing structures or facilities involving negligible or no expansion of previous use, 15303, this covers the installation of small new equipment and utility structures in urbanized areas, 15304, this applies if the project requires minor trenching or grading to lay electrical conduit, and 15311, this covers the placement of minor structures accessory to existing facilities, such as parking lots. Alternatively, under California Government Code section 65850.7(b), cities and counties are required to approve EV charging station applications administratively through a nondiscretionary building permit. Ministerial projects are completely exempt from CEQA.
ATTACHMENTS
1. Site Maps (Pgs. 6-8)
2. PowerFlex Agreement – Corporation Yard (Pgs. 9-172)
3. PowerFlex Agreement – City Hall Fleet (Pgs. 173-336)
4. PowerFlex Agreement – City Hall Police (Pgs. 337-500)
5. Corporation Yard CRT Agreement (Pgs. 501-518)
6. City Hall – General Fleet CRT Agreement (Pgs. 519-536)
7. City Hall – Police Department CRT Agreement (Pgs. 537-554) Submitted By: .
Mark McAvoy
Approved: .
Mark McAvoy, Director of Public
Works & Utilities
Dave Kiff, City Manager
Report Prepared By: Coordinated With:
Thomas Perez, City Engineer Patrick Donegan, Assistant City Attorney