City Council
Report
City Council Meeting: June 11, 2024
Agenda Item: 5.E
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To: Mayor and City Council
From: Rick Valte, Public Works Director, Public Works, Office of Sustainability & the Environment
Subject: Approve Modification to Award with GreenWealth Energy Solutions for Electric Vehicle Charging Services
Recommended Action
Staff recommends that the City Council:
1. Adopt a finding of Categorical Exemption pursuant to Section 15301 (Existing Facilities), Section 15302 (Replacement/Reconstruction), and Section 15303 (New Construction of Small Structures) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines; and
2. Approve a modification to contract award #372 to increase the number of electric vehicle chargers and locations with GreenWealth Energy Solutions, Inc., with no change in contract authority or term.
Summary
In November 2023, Council awarded bid number 372 to GreenWealth Energy Solutions (GreenWealth), and authorized the City to enter into an agreement to replace broken electric vehicle (EV) chargers at several City facilities and to add new chargers at future City locations. Per the authorization, GreenWealth would own, operate, and maintain the new chargers that they installed. Staff recommends modifying bid award number 372 to increase the number of EV chargers and locations managed by GreenWealth to improve station uptime and reduce the time and cost burden of maintaining the network in-house. Transferring the City’s operations and maintenance (O&M) responsibilities to a third-party that is dedicated to EV charging operations would benefit both EV drivers and the City and would result in a positive budget impact. Staff recommends amending the award to contract with GreenWealth Energy Solutions to replace old chargers at 2 of 7
three priority parking facilities, handle O&M for existing public chargers, and install and operate new chargers, as requested by the City. Since the RFP was initially awarded in early 2023, it has become clear by the volume of repair requests that the City needs third-party assistance in maintaining the charging network. EV charger maintenance is a challenge that cities and site hosts across the country are experiencing. As the City’s charging network grows to support increased EV adoption, so does the importance of operating a reliable charging network.
Discussion
The State of California has a goal of reaching 5 million zero emission vehicles on the road by 2030. By 2035, 100% of new cars and light trucks sold in the state are required to be zero-emissions vehicles. Expanding public EV charging options is critical to supporting the rapidly growing EV adoption rates.
Council adopted the EV Action Plan in 2017 (Attachment B) to support EV adoption through policies, programs, and infrastructure projects that expand EV charging access.
Santa Monica currently has 178 standard level 2 chargers that are owned and operated by the City, and 28 DC fast chargers that are owned and operated by EVgo.
The City entered into a contract with ChargePoint Inc. to purchase EV charging equipment in 2018. The City coordinates the installation, operations, and maintenance of these chargers and retains revenues earned at these stations. As the number of chargers and utilization rates have increased, so have maintenance costs and time to repair broken stations. Bringing on a third-party to manage and operate new stations benefit both the City and EV drivers that count on EV chargers to be working. The City would save money on the capital costs of installing the equipment and would no longer have to pay for operating costs under the new model. GreenWealth would provide level 2 chargers, including ChargePoint EV chargers, similar to the existing chargers found at other City parking facilities and would remit 5-10% of profits to the City after operating costs are met, even though profit sharing was not a requirement in the RFP solicitation.
The profit share amount would be reduced from GreenWealth’s initial proposal of 20% to account for increased electricity costs and to help keep fees down for drivers. 3 of 7
GreenWealth may also install other charger types to expand charging options for a range of EV technologies. This could include different equipment providers and plug types such as the North American Charging Standard (NACS) used by Tesla and adopted by several other manufacturers including Ford and GM.
Per the previously approved agreement terms, GreenWealth would be responsible for replacing a minimum of 49 old charge ports at three parking structures (Structure 6, 9, and the Civic Structure) and installing chargers at new sites identified by the City in collaboration with the vendor, including three parking lots at the Santa Monica Airport.
Under the proposed modification terms, GreenWealth would become the owners and operators of 94 existing City public charge ports, the 94 ports include all public ChargePoint stations except for the five solar-powered chargers, which the City would retain ownership of to continue offering free charging at these locations. GreenWealth would install chargers at mutually agreed upon City locations at no cost to the City, cover electricity costs, and retain the majority of charging revenue. The City may also elect to transfer ownership and operations of City-owned fleet chargers or additional public chargers for GreenWealth to maintain in the future.
GreenWealth would prioritize the replacement of existing chargers, many of which are broken, at. the Civic Center Parking Structure, and Parking Structures 6 and 9 located downtown. The stations at these locations are old, non-networked chargers (not ChargePoint stations) that are unable to collect revenue or provide usage data to monitor station status.
EV charging user fees at GreenWealth-operated chargers would be based on regional user fees and electricity rates. Proposed fees are around $0.35/kWh-$0.49/kWh on a time-of-use rate structure and are subject to change based on electricity rates set by the Clean Power Alliance and Southern California Edison. User fees are currently $0.30/kWh-$0.35/kWh at City-owned chargers. GreenWealth would review proposed fee structures with the City annually to ensure pricing is reasonable and calibrated to current market conditions and electricity rates. GreenWealth would reimburse the City for electricity costs incurred by their EV chargers at all locations. 4 of 7
By transferring ownership and O&M of 94 existing ChargePoint units to GreenWealth, the City is expected to save $181,000 per year in software, maintenance, and electricity costs. The City currently earns approximately $174,000 per year in revenues from EV user fees, EV overstay fines, and Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) revenues for these stations, but these revenues do not offset the full costs, including capital costs and staff time to manage the network. (LCFS revenues come from a State program designed to decrease the carbon intensity of California’s transportation fuel by incentivizing cleaner alternatives.) If the City decides not to extend the agreement at the end of the initial fiveyear term, the City would resume ownership and O&M of all EV chargers at no cost to the City. If this modification is not approved and Council chooses to proceed with the initial scope authorized in November 2023, GreenWealth has indicated that the term length would need to be increased from five years to ten years in order for them to proceed with the agreement due to increased financing costs from their lender that occurred after the RFP response was submitted.
By transferring ownership and O&M of 94 existing public charge ports, the City would no longer collect EV User Fee revenues, EV overstay fines, or LCFS revenues in the following accounts in the following estimated amounts:
Account Description Est. Annual
Revenues (not
collected)
01500002.410760 General Fund – OSE (EV User Fee) $101,939. 11430001.410760 Beach Fund - Annenberg $3,963
11700001.410760 Beach Fund – Economic
Development
$8,610
01500002.403480 General Fund – OSE (EV Overstay
Fine)
$29,419
10500004.415541 Special Revenue Fund – LCFS $30,000
Total Revenues $173,932
The City would no longer incur the following annual costs associated with these 94 charge ports:
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Account Description Est. Annual Costs
01500034.529050 General Fund – Street Lighting EV
Maintenance
$20,593
C1007490.689000 CIP EV Action Fund – Software and
Maintenance
$40,292
Various Electricity Costs $120,185
Total
Expenditures
$181,070
Note: The City would still incur maintenance and software costs for fleet chargers, which is estimated to cost around $15,000 per year and can be covered by the existing budget in 01500034.529050.
Net Budget Impact
Amount Accounts Description
O&M Costs $181,070 Various Software, Maintenance,
Electricity transferred to
GreenWealth
Lost Revenues ($173,932) Various EV User Fees and
Overstay Fine, LCFS
Revenues
Projected profitshare revenues
(Year 1, subject
to increase)
$22,813 01500002.416300
01500002.416301
General Fund and Airport
Fund profit-share revenues
Total +$29,951
Environmental Review
The contract is Categorically Exempt from CEQA pursuant to Sections 15301, Section 15302, and Section 15303 of the CEQA Guidelines. Section 15301 exempts Class 1 (Existing Facilities) projects from CEQA, which include the operation, repair, maintenance, permitting, leasing, licensing, or minor alteration of existing public or private structures, facilities, mechanical equipment, or topographical features, involving negligible or no expansion of existing or former use. Section 15302 exempts Class 2 6 of 7
projects (Replacement/Reconstruction) which “consists of replacement or reconstruction of existing structures and facilities where the new structure will be located on the same site as the structure replaced and will have substantially the same purpose and capacity as the structure replaced”. The contract will allow for the replacement and maintenance of existing EV chargers. In addition, the installation of new EV chargers is Categorically Exempt pursuant to Section 15303 (New Construction of Small Structures), which exempts construction and location of limited numbers of new, small facilities or structures including utility extensions and accessory structures/facilities such as EV chargers.
Past Council Actions
Meeting Date Description
07/25/17 (Attachment A) Original bid and award of agreement with ChargePoint, Inc. for EV charger procurement
11/14/17 (Attachment B) Council adopted EV Action Plan
03/06/18 (Attachment C) Modification to agreement with ChargePoint to expand procurement and services from fleet-only to public
chargers
09/10/19 (Attachment D) Original bid and award of agreement with EVgo Services LLC for DC fast charging installation and services
11/28/23 (Attachment E) Awarded agreement with GreenWealth Energy Solutions for installation, operation, and maintenance of designated public EV chargers
Financial Impacts and Budget Actions
Staff seeks authority to enter into an agreement with GreenWealth Energy Solutions LLC to provide EV charging installation, operations, and maintenance at select City sites. The recommended action in this report is expected to have a positive impact to the General Fund and eventually the Airport Fund since the electricity costs will be reimbursed by GreenWealth. The reimbursement and profit-sharing revenues for the General Fund will be deposited in accounts 01500002.416300 and 01500002.416301, and to the Airport Fund in 57500001.416302 and 57500001.416303, respectively.
The timing and amount of the revenues to be received and the electricity expenses to be incurred in FY24-25 are subject to contract negotiations and project timelines for 7 of 7
repairs and new installs. The Public Works Department will track and monitor both the revenues and the expenditures closely. Staff will return to Council if specific budget actions are required in the future.
Prepared By: Ariana Vito, Sustainability Analyst
Approved Forwarded to Council
Attachments:
A. Staff Report: Original ChargePoint Agreement (Web Link) B. EV Action Plan (Web Link)
C. Staff Report: ChargePoint Agreement Modification (Web Link) D. Staff Report: EVgo Agreement (Web Link)
E. Staff Report: GreenWealth Award Authorization (Web Link) F. Oaks Initiative Form - GreenWealth
G. Levine Act Disclosure Form - GreenWealth