Public Works Agency
www.santa-ana.org/pw
Item # 20
City of Santa Ana
20 Civic Center Plaza, Santa Ana, CA 92701
Staff Report
May 5, 2026
TOPIC: Grant of Easements to Southern California Edison to Provide Electrical Power to Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at the Santa Ana Corporate Yard and Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center
AGENDA TITLE
Grant of Easements to Southern California Edison for the Purpose of Implementing the Charge Ready Transport Program Provision to Provide Electrical Power to Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at the Santa Ana Corporate Yard and Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center
RECOMMENDED ACTION
1. Authorize City Manager to execute a grant of easement and right of way to Southern California Edison for the purpose of implementing the Charge Ready Transport Program provision to provide electrical power to vehicle charging stations at the Santa Ana Corporate Yard.
2. Authorize City Manager to execute a grant of easement and right of way to Southern California Edison for the purpose of the Charge Ready Transport Program provision to provide electrical power to vehicle charging stations at the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center.
GOVERNMENT CODE §84308 APPLIES: Yes
DISCUSSION
The Public Works Agency (PWA) continues to advance measures that align with the California Clean Air Act's mobile source emission reduction goals. As part of this commitment, the City has been actively expanding electric vehicle (EV) infrastructure to support both fleet electrification and comply with State requirements. The City’s EV infrastructure expansion is driven in part by compliance requirements under the California Air Resources Board (CARB) Advanced Clean Fleets (ACF) regulation, which took effect January 1, 2024. As a local government fleet operator, 50% of the City’s annual vehicle purchases from calendar year 2024 through 2026 must be zero-emission vehicles (ZEV), increasing to 100% ZEV purchases beginning January 1, 2027.
Grant of Easements to Southern California Edison to Provide Electrical Power to Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at the Santa Ana Corporate Yard and Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center
May 5, 2026
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The City currently owns and operates 60 EV charging ports across several City-owned facilities including Ross Annex Basement, Superblock Parking Structure, Santa Ana Stadium, Corporate Yard, and downtown parking structures. The City’s fleet comprises of 44 EVs, with an additional 15 EVs to be added in the near term.
To comply with requirements and meet anticipated EV charging demand, the City entered into two Charging Infrastructure and Rebate Participation agreements in June 2025 to participate in Southern California Edison’s (SCE) Charge Ready Transport Program (Program), an initiative through which SCE provides funding and delivers the electrical infrastructure necessary to support light and medium duty EV charging. Under this program, the Santa Ana Corporate Yard and the Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center (SARTC) were identified as suitable deployment sites based on operational demand, fleet readiness, and alignment with program eligibility requirements. The Corporate Yard chargers will serve City fleet vehicles, while SARTC chargers will be available to both the public and City fleet.
Through participation in the Program, SCE provides substantial upfront investment by designing, permitting, and installing all utility-side electrical infrastructure at no cost to the City. This includes transformer capacity, service upgrade, meters, panels, and associated distribution infrastructure necessary to support EV charging. These improvements would otherwise represent a significant capital expense to the City, ranging from $300,000 to $500,000 per site, particularly for transformer and service upgrades. In addition to these hard costs, SCE also assumes responsibility for design and permitting, reducing project delivery timelines and associated soft costs. The electrical infrastructure provided by the Program will support the deployment of up to 20 Level 2 EV charging ports at each location.
The Program defines responsibilities between the City and SCE. The City is responsible for the procurement, installation, and ongoing operation of charging equipment, though equipment can be upgraded incrementally as demand dictates. Level 2 chargers carry an expected lifespan of approximately 8-10 years, subject to normal wear, vandalism, or accidental damage. The estimated annual maintenance costs are approximately $500 per unit, with revenue from publicly accessible chargers used to offset these expenses.
As a requirement of the Program, the City grants SCE limited-use easements (Exhibit 1 & 2) at both project locations to allow for the installation and maintenance of the electrical infrastructure needed by the chargers. These easements are narrowly defined and limited to the minimum area necessary for electrical equipment placement, conduit, and access. As reflected in the legal descriptions and maps (Exhibit 3), the easement areas generally follow existing utility alignments and parking lot edges, are confined to narrow corridors, and do not materially impact site operations or constrain future Grant of Easements to Southern California Edison to Provide Electrical Power to Electric Vehicle Charging Stations at the Santa Ana Corporate Yard and Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center
May 5, 2026
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development. The City retains full ownership and control of the property at all times.
Should the City elect to remove the charging stations in the future, the City retains the right to terminate the easement with 60 days’ written notice, at which point the easement is formally dissolved.
Staff recommends approval of the grant of easements which will enable SCE to proceed with infrastructure installation at both the Santa Ana Corporate Yard and SARTC, supporting the deployment of up to 20 Level 2 EV charging ports at each location. This further advances the City’s fleet electrification efforts and expands public access to EV charging at SARTC.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
There is no environmental impact associated with this action.
FISCAL IMPACT
There is no quantifiable fiscal impact associated with the proposed grant of easement.
EXHIBIT(S)
1. Grant of Easement – Corporate Yard
2. Grant of Easement – Santa Ana Regional Transportation Center
3. Easement Locations
Submitted By: Rodolfo Rosas, P.E., Acting Executive Director, Public Works Agency Approved By: Alvaro Nuñez, City Manager