Chargers will be installed at every city library, recreation center and beach within two years, and at every city building within five years.
There are more than 400 city parking lots in sprawling San Diego, from Rancho Bernardo and Carmel Valley in the north to Otay Mesa and San Ysidro in the south.
The deal aims to make it easier for residents to own electric cars and reduce local greenhouse gas emissions. It will also help the city replace its 5,000-vehicle gas-powered fleet.
The deal comes as electric vehicle ownership is climbing in the city and county, officials said, and with sales rising across California.
Electric vehicles made up 6 percent of all vehicles registered in San Diego County last year, based on state data, city officials said Monday — twice their share from the year prior. And electric vehicle ownership was up 50 percent year over year in the city.
The city's deal had been in jeopardy based on concerns the city could owe the company it's partnering with as much as $60 million for charging infrastructure at the end of the 10-year agreement.
While that is technically true, the IBA said that is based on a highly unlikely worst-case scenario where demand for electric charging stations plummets to nearly zero.
"The risk here, which is shared by the contractor and the city, is that underutilization of the system could result in a dramatic decline in revenue," said IBA analyst Jordan More.
A more reasonable worst-case scenario, More said, would be demand dropping to one-third of city estimates, which would leave the city owing $14.6 million for infrastructure to its partner, True Upside Consulting of Virginia. But More said the availability of state and federal climate change grants for electric vehicle charging infrastructure makes even that scenario unlikely.
"Our office does not have any major concerns with the structure of the contract," said More, praising the deal for aligning the financial interests of the city and True Upside.
He also noted the city could walk away from the deal instead of paying True Upside for the infrastructure it will have installed during the 10-year deal.
In that scenario, the city and True Upside would have to engage in tricky negotiations. The city would have infrastructure it couldn't use on city property, and True Upside would have infrastructure it would own on property controlled by someone else.
City officials focused Monday on the potential climate benefits of the deal.
"This contract ensures all San Diegans can be confident in transitioning to cleaner electric vehicles regardless of where they travel in the city or whether or not they can charge at home," said Heather Werner, interim director of the city's Sustainability and Mobility Department.
Werner said requiring chargers at all city libraries and recreation centers will ensure chargers are available in low-income areas, where they might soon be needed the most.
"The distribution of electric vehicle adoption is obviously not equal across the city, concentrating in areas of both higher income and single-family housing," she said.
But many of those people have a charger at home in their garage or at their office, making people who live in apartments without chargers the group who will benefit most from a comprehensive public charging network, Werner said.
San Diego's climate action plan, which was revised in 2022, commits the city to having 16 percent of all miles driven be by zero-emission vehicles by 2030 and to having a quarter be zero-emission by 2035.
The plan also calls for the city to have an all-electric fleet for light-duty vehicles by 2035 and to have 75 percent of its heavy-duty vehicles be electric by that time. Officials say the lack of a regional charging network is making those goals elusive.
Only 150 of the city's 3,300 light-duty vehicles are electric. The first heavy-duty electric vehicles — two street sweepers and a firetruck — are slated to arrive this year.
True Upside will face penalties if broken chargers aren't promptly repaired. Broken chargers will be something people can report on the city's Get It Done! tipster app.
©2024 The San Diego Union-Tribune, Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
