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Ava and Calibrant partner to scale public EV charging access in Northern California

Ava and Calibrant partner to scale public EV charging access in Northern California
An electric vehicle charges via a DC fast charger (courtesy: Unsplash)

Today Ava Community Energy (Ava) announced its plans to expand access to public EV charging stations across its service territory. As part of the energy provider’s new partnership with Calibrant Energy (a joint
venture between Macquarie and Siemens Financial Services), Ava will deploy 86 public direct-current fast-chargers (DCFC) across 11 sites in six cities.

This follows Ava’s 2023 partnership EV Realty, which promises the construction of 32 additional chargers in downtown Oakland, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to driving access to electric mobility resources and infrastructure across Northern California.

“The partnership between Calibrant Energy and Ava is another step closer to making the energy transition more achievable. As demand grows, this is an exciting time for EVs, and collaborations like this will ensure success. Calibrant is proud to support Ava’s commitment to lowering the barriers consumers may face with EVs and charging stations,” says Matt Walz, CEO at Calibrant Energy.

To help expedite California’s goals for decarbonized transportation, Ava is proactively taking innovative steps to scale the adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Through a first-of-its-kind procurement approach that mirrors power purchase agreements (PPAs) traditionally used for wind, solar and battery storage projects, Ava is utilizing an energy tolling agreement structure to finance its EV charging network, paying a monthly fixed, capacity-based fee to deploy Ava charging stations across its service territory.

Ava’s partners Calibrant Energy and EV Realty will help develop up to the first 11 fast-charging hubs of Ava’s DC fast-charging network, which will be located across Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton, and San Leandro. Ava’s DC fast chargers will be powered using its Renewable 100 service – which is certified by the California Air Resource Board (CARB) as a zero carbon intensity (CI) transportation fuel – and will be available to the public 24/7.

Join us at GridTECH Connect California, June 24-26, 2024, in Newport Beach, CA! With some of the most ambitious sustainability and clean energy goals in the country, California is at the cutting edge of the energy transition while confronting its most cumbersome roadblocks. From electric vehicles to battery storage, microgrids, community solar, and everything in between, attendees will collaborate to advance interconnection procedures and policies in California.

The charging partnership with Calibrant Energy is slated to come online in 2025, and Ava’s EV Realty partnership plans to see project completion by the end of 2024. Ava plans to continue building publicly available fast chargers to give residents access to affordable electric vehicle charging. To help bridge the gap to widespread, reliable and affordable charging infrastructure for underserved communities, Ava will locate all EV fast-charging sites in publicly accessible municipal parking lots, garages and right-of-way parking spaces near “multifamily hotspots” – areas with dense concentrations of renters, who make up nearly 50 percent of Ava’s customers. Additionally, each charging station will be located in proximity to local businesses and services for increased convenience.

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