City to fund 45 public fast EV chargers

The fight here isn’t really about chargers. It’s about who public EV money is supposed to help, and whether Riverside can build charging fast enough for people who don’t have a garage at home. This week, Riverside’s Board of Public Utilities voted unanimously to recommend moving $3 million into a city program that would install 45 publicly accessible fast chargers at city sites. The money would come from Riverside Public Utilities’ Low Carbon Fuel Standard reserve — basically a pool built from California clean-fuel credits tied to EV charging. The board action happened on April 27, and the item now heads to the City Council for final approval. (riversideca.legistar.com) ### What exactly did the board approve? Not the chargers themselves going live tomorrow. What the board approved was a recommendation to City Council to shift $3 million into the “EV Charger Install at Public Facilities” account and let the city carry out updates under its Electrify Riverside program. In plain English — it cleared the funding move, not the ribbon-cutting. (riversideca.legistar.com) ### Why 45 chargers? Because Riverside already set that number when City Council approved a nonbinding memorandum of understanding with Chaevi Co., Ltd. on November 4, 2025. City staff told the board the plan still calls for 45 Level 3 fast chargers, with Chaevi as the intended supplier. Level 3 matters because these are the fast chargers people use when they need a meaningful refill in a shorter stop, not an all-day top-off. (raincrossgazette.com) ### Where would they go? The city hasn’t locked every site yet, but the working list is pretty broad: libraries, police stations, fire stations, City Hall, downtown parking garages, and possibly the airport. Staff also said they’re looking at whether some chargers could go on county property. That tells you the real goal — spread chargers around daily-life destinations instead of hiding them in one flagship lot. (raincrossgazette.com) ### Why use this money for charging? Because the money has strings attached. California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard gives utilities credits when cleaner transportation cuts emissions, and utilities that opt in have to use that value for the benefit of current and future EV owners. Riverside’s board memo ties this directly to state greenhouse-gas rules and to the requirement that the funds support EV adoption. So this isn’t just the city deciding, out of nowhere, to spend electric-utility money on chargers. The program was built for this kind of use. (riversideca.legistar.com) ### Who is this supposed to help? The city’s pitch is renters and people in multifamily housing — residents who may own or want an EV but can’t install a charger at home. That’s the big gap in a lot of local EV policy. Rebates for home chargers are great if you have a driveway. They do a lot less for apartment residents. Public fast chargers at civic sites are basically the city trying to patch that hole. (raincrossgazette.com) ### So why was there pushback? Because “equity” sounds neat until you ask who actually benefits. At the meeting, residents and at least one board member questioned whether low-income communities would choose EV chargers over other needs, and whether many low-income residents even own EVs yet. Staff pushed back, saying lower-income participation is rising because rebates have gotten more substantial. That’s the real tension — build infrastructure ahead of demand, or wait until demand is obvious and risk staying behind. (raincrossgazette.com) ### What’s the catch? These chargers won’t be free to use. Staff said pricing is still being negotiated, though the expectation is that charger revenue would help cover operations and maintenance. Also, the $3 million covers chargers and some electrical infrastructure, but not all site work like parking-lot modifications. So the headline number is big, but it’s not the whole cost of making every location ready. (raincrossgazette.com) ### Bottom line Riverside is trying to turn state clean-fuel dollars into a public charging network that works for people without home charging. The board just moved that plan one step forward. But the harder question is still hanging there — whether 45 fast chargers will feel like climate infrastructure for everyone, or a subsidy that reaches EV drivers first and everyone else later.