____________________________________________________________________________________
FOR CITY CLERK ONLY
Council Meeting:
Disposition:
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT
Department: Public Works
Prepared by: Jonathan Schellin
Deputy Director, Public Works
Cory Bytof
Sustainability Program Manager
City Manager Approval: ______
TOPIC: ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING ELECTRICAL CONTRACT
SUBJECT: RESOLUTION WAIVING FORMAL BID REQUIREMENTS AND AUTHORIZING THE
CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH MIKE
BROWN ELECTRIC COMPANY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING
INFRASTRUCTURE INSTALLATION WORK IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $288,000.
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to waive the City’s formal bid requirements and negotiate and enter into a contract with Mike Brown Electric Company for electric vehicle charging infrastructure installation work in an amount not to exceed $288,000.
BACKGROUND:
Vehicle emissions are the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the City’s municipal greenhouse gas inventory. San Rafael’s Climate Change Action Plan (CCAP) includes Measure LCT-M1, directing the City to purchase or lease zero-emission vehicles for the City fleet whenever possible. It targets a 50% reduction in fuel use by 2030. In addition, the City Council approved an Electric Vehicle Acceleration Strategy Workplan in 2023 that contains priority action items by 2025 to 1) develop a fleet replacement plan that includes activities to convert the City’s fleet to 100% zero-emissions vehicles, inclusive of charging infrastructure, and 2) to identify local fire and police conversion of mission-critical and nonemergency fleet vehicles. Finally, the California Air Resources Board adopted the Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation for local government vehicle fleets, which the City must comply with (California Code of Regulations Title 13, Division 3, Chapter 1, Article 3.2).
Staff have been working on transitioning the City fleet for the past two years. This includes securing Federal Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant funds, no-cost technical assistance from MCE and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, and contracting with a third-party technical consulting team to plan the transition. Last year, the City was accepted into the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s (PG&E) EV Fleet Electrification program, which commits PG&E to installing additional infrastructure to serve electric-vehicle loads at City facilities. The City Council approved a contract with PG&E to participate in the program on June 2, 2025, and determined this work to be categorically exempt under CEQA Guideline 15301 (minor alteration of existing facilities), 15303(e) (appurtenant structure to Agenda Item No: 2.c
Meeting Date: April 20, 2026
SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 2
garages and carports), and/or 15311 (placement of minor structures appurtenant to existing uses).
The PG&E program includes PG&E fully funding the utility side of the meter upgrades, financial assistance for the City side of the meter work, and financial incentives for City vehicle purchases. PG&E also provides technical assistance to identify and secure additional incentives for the chargers and vehicles, and has accelerated the timeline for PG&E’s work to build out the electrical supply needed to facilitate high-speed charging at the Corps Yard for City fleet vehicles. This will help the City comply with the Advanced Clean Fleet Regulation and avoid high costs for transformer and electrical capacity expansion. Finally, this upgraded service also includes a separate meter with a lower cost per kWh, which will provide the City with substantial annual savings by replacing fuel costs with lower electricity costs.
On March 16, 2026, the City Council adopted a resolution authorizing the City Manager to procure electric vehicle charging equipment through a Sourcewell Cooperative Purchasing Agreement for the Public Works facility at 111 Morphew Street and authorized supplemental budget appropriations of $450,000 to fund the work. This contract is the next phase of the work.
Final designs are complete for the project, and staff are working to initiate construction with a completion target of mid-June this year. Completing the installation by June 30, 2026, will allow the City to apply for the Federal Investment Tax Credit program, which would provide the City with $285,900 to $381,200 in project reimbursement. In addition, it will allow the City to submit a request to the Federal Energy Efficiency Conservation Block Grant program for payment of $123,900, which was awarded to the City in 2024.
ANALYSIS:
On February 20, 2026, staff initiated an informal request for proposals (RFP) for electrical services to install the electrical switchgear and corresponding infrastructure necessary to complete the charging project. The bid amount was tied to the budget for the project and was estimated to cost $150,000, within the amount that could be authorized under the City’s Public Works Award Authority. Staff circulated the bid to six electrical contractors known to be capable of doing this work, with recent experience working with the City, and received only two bids. Neither bid met the requirements of the project, and therefore, both bids were rejected. Staff identified improvements to the scope of work and directions for another round of proposals, and reissued an RFP on March 20, 2026, to an expanded group of eight qualified contractors.
This round garnered two new submissions. The lowest bidder, which was under the $220,000 limit, did not – and would not – include the bonding requirements that the City requires to conduct a project of this magnitude. Left with one bid that meets the project requirements but exceeds the $220,000 staff award limit and the informal bidding requirements, the City Council will need to authorize the award of this contract and waive the formal bidding process typically required for a project of this cost. Doing this is necessary to meet the project timeline and the Federal Investment Tax Credit incentive deadline. Per San Rafael Municipal Code Section 11.50.090, the City Council may waive bidding requirements if any one of the listed five circumstances exists. In this case, Council would be waiving formal bidding for the following reasons:
1. There is no competitive advantage to conducting a formal bid process since staff conducted two exhaustive informal bids, which fully assessed the known and qualified electrical contractor market for this work, and
2. Conducting a formal bid process at this stage of the project would cause delays that would jeopardize the project's completion and the loss of significant cost recovery through the SAN RAFAEL CITY COUNCIL AGENDA REPORT / Page: 3
Investment Tax Credit.
At this time, staff is seeking City Council authorization to contract with Mike Brown Electric Company, which submitted a proposal to conduct the work at a cost of $263,235, plus an approximate 10% contingency to account for unknown conditions that can’t be anticipated during the bid process. Thus, staff is seeking authorization for an amount not to exceed $288,000. Though this amount is higher than the staff or the City’s consultant, NV5, had anticipated, it can be absorbed by the project’s contingency budget and still falls within the appropriation amounts authorized by Council for the project.
FISCAL IMPACT:
Current appropriation is sufficient to cover the full not-to-exceed amount of $288,000 within the Capital Improvement Fund (401), and no new appropriations are needed at this time.
OPTIONS:
The City Council has the following options to consider relating to this item:
1. Adopt the resolution as presented.
2. Adopt the resolution with amendments.
3. Do not adopt the resolution.
RECOMMENDED ACTION:
Staff recommends that the City Council adopt a resolution authorizing the City Manager to waive the City’s formal bid requirements and negotiate and enter into a contract with Mike Brown Electric Company for electric vehicle charging infrastructure installation work in an amount not to exceed $288,000.
ATTACHMENTS:
1. Resolution
2. Construction Agreement with Mike Brown
3. Request for Proposals Summary
RESOLUTION NO.
RESOLUTION WAIVING FORMAL BID REQUIREMENTS AND AUTHORIZING THE CITY
MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND ENTER INTO A CONTRACT WITH MIKE BROWN
ELECTRIC COMPANY FOR ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING INFRASTRUCTURE INSTALLATION WORK IN AN AMOUNT NOT TO EXCEED $288,000
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael is required to comply with the Advanced Clean Fleets regulations of the California Air Resources Board; and
WHEREAS, the Advanced Clean Fleet regulations (Title 13, Division 3, Chapter 1, Article 3.2) require transitioning the City fleet to electric or zero emissions vehicles in phases starting in 2024 with a requirement for 50% of fleet purchases to be Zero Emission Vehicles starting in 2024, and 100% of fleet purchases to be Zero Emission Vehicles starting in 2027 with some exceptions; and WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael has applied for and been accepted into the Pacific Gas and Electric Company’s EV Fleet Electrification program (“Project”); and WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael is under a deadline to procure, install, and energize electric vehicle charging equipment at the Public Works facility at 111 Morphew Street, San Rafael, by the end of June to qualify for over $300,000 in Investment Tax Credit incentives; and WHEREAS, San Rafael Municipal Code 11.50.090 authorizes purchases of supplies, materials, equipment, or services through waiver of a formal bid process when certain conditions occur; and WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael conducted an informal bid process, anticipating bids to not exceed the $220,000 award authority under Public Works procurement regulations and sent the informal bid issuance to all known qualified electrical contractors for the City; and WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael only received one bid that met the qualifications of the project, and it exceeded the Public Works award authority; and
WHEREAS, the City of San Rafael wishes to contract with Mike Brown Electric Company for the installation of electrical equipment and infrastructure at the Public Works facility in an amount exceeding normal requirements for informal bidding; and WHEREAS, the City Council of the City of San Rafael has determined that due to significant time constraints and requirements for Federal Investment Tax Credit incentives exceptions to a formal bid process are justified.
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED, that the City Council of the City of San Rafael finds the foregoing recitals are true and correct, and waives formal bidding requirements because there is no competitive advantage to bidding given the outreach staff has already conducted to potential bidders and formal bidding would cause delays that would jeopardize the project's completion and the loss of significant cost recovery through the Investment Tax Credit. And therefore, hereby authorizes the City Manager to negotiate and enter into a contract with Mike Brown Electrical Company for the Public Works facility at 111 Morphew Street in an amount not to exceed $288,000.
I, LINDSAY LARA, Clerk of the City of San Rafael, hereby certify that the foregoing Resolution was duly and regularly introduced and adopted at a regular meeting of the City Council of the City of San Rafael, held on Monday, the 20th day of April 2026, by the following vote, to wit:
AYES: Councilmembers:
NOES: Councilmembers:
ABSENT: Councilmembers:
Lindsay Lara, City Clerk
City of San Rafael - Electric Vehicle Charging Station Project Electrical Bids
Company Cost Estimate Request Date Deadline Cost Estimate Provided: Yes
(Y)/No (N)
Cost Estimate
DC Electric 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 N
ChargeOn 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 N
Collins Electric 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 N
Forefront Power 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 N
McDonnell Electric 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 N
Mike Brown Electric 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 Y 258,436.00 $ National Car Charging 2/20/2026 3/11/2026 Y 123,911.00 $ Company Cost Estimate Request Date Deadline Cost Estimate Provided: Yes
(Y)/No (N)
Cost Estimate
ChargeOn 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 N
Collins Electric 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 N
DC Electric 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 N
Forefront Power 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 N
McDonnell Electric 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 N
Mike Brown Electric 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 Y $263,235.00
National Car Charging 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 N
Reyff Electric Co, Inc. 3/20/2026 3/31/2026 Y $173,053.36
FIRST REQUEST
SECOND REQUEST
SUMMARY: In the first request for electrical cost estimates, two submissions were received. The two submissions included estimates from 1) Mike Brown Electric and 2) National Car Charging. The Mike Brown Electric cost estimate was $258,436. The National Car Charging cost estimate was $123,911. In reviewing the lowest cost bid, City staff determined that there were deficiencies and exclusions in the National Car Charging estimate that were too important to accept. Additionally, the Mike Brown Electric cost estimate was double the amount of National Car Charging so we decided to go out for a second informal cost estimate request to ensure a competitive bid and clarify the scope of work.
SUMMARY: In the second request for electrical cost estimates, two submissions were received. The two submissions included estimates from 1) Mike Brown Electric and 2) Reyff Electric Co, Inc. The Mike Brown Elecric cost estimate was $263,235. The Reyff Electric Co, Inc. cost estimate was $173,053.36. In reviewing the lowest cost bid, City staff determined that there was a deficiency in providing the required payment and performance bonds for the project.
Additionally, after reaching out for clarification to the Reyff Electric, they decided to withdraw their cost estimate.
Therefore, City staff is requesting to proceed with Mike Brown Electric, which is the lowest cost estimate received and meets the project requirements for consideration.