PG&E provides incentives making electric vehicles more affordable for underserved communities

(Oakland) Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) encourages members of the underserved communities to take advantage of a number of incentives that they have provided to own electric vehicles for reaching the goal of clean energy.

PG&E is a natural gas and electric utility provider serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California.

Under its Clean Energy Transportation Initiatives, PG&E offers a variety of tools, rebates and resources in multiple languages to help educate customers and encourage EV adoption for a friendly environment.

Customers are encouraged to check out PG&E’s EV Savings Calculator (ev.pge.com), an online resource to browse vehicles, discover incentives, locate charging stations and more, and an EV Rate Comparison tool (https://www.pge.com/en/account/rate-plans/find-your-best-rate-plan/electric-vehicles.html) to help customers find the best rate plan for them.

In February 2023, PG&E launched Pre-Owned Electric Vehicle (EV) Rebate Program targeting customers in underserved communities in order to make electric vehicle ownership more affordable.

The Pre-Owned EV Rebate Program would provide income-qualified customers with up to $4,000 when purchasing or leasing a used electric vehicle.

More than 3,300 rebate payments have been distributed at the one-year mark, and an additional $70 million in funding is still available to help income-qualified customers transition to an electric vehicle, according to PG&E.

The funding of the Pre-Owned Electric Vehicle Rebate program is available through 2024, PG&E said they have requested to extend the program for additional years.

“We serve a diverse population and want to ensure all of our customers have the resources they need to make electric vehicle ownership an attainable goal,” said Lydia Krefta, Director, Clean Energy Transportation for PG&E. “The Pre-Owned EV Rebate Program is a great resource that has already helped many of our underserved customers transition to electric vehicles, and there is still substantial funding available to enable our customers to adopt affordable EVs.”

According to PG&E, there are nearly 600,000 electric vehicles in PG&E’s service area in Northern and Central California, representing one in seven electric vehicles in the country.

PG&E said they would continue expanding its portfolio of programs to provide incentives for electric vehicle's charging equipment and electric rates, aiming to make it easy and affordable for all customers to drive electric vehicles.

In November 2023, PG&E launched a new Residential Charging Solutions pilot program that provides income-qualified customers with a $700 post-purchase rebate on approved Level 2 residential charging equipment that can utilize existing 240-volt outlets and eliminate the need for costly electrical upgrades. The pilot rebate program is funded by California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard.

The Empower EV program from PG&E offers income-eligible customers up to $2,500 in incentives to help cover the cost of installing EV-charging equipment at their single-family residences.

Under the Empower EV program, PG&E provides a free Level 2 charger, valued at $500, to customers who meet eligibility requirements and covers up to $2,000 per eligible household for panel upgrades completed by the program’s approved electrician.

Eligible customers are encouraged to enroll in the Empower EV program before it closes at the end of 2024.

The Multifamily Housing and Small Business EV Charger Program installs Level 1 and Level 2 EV chargers at multi-family housing units, nonprofit organizations and small businesses in select communities.

For qualified customers in the above EV charger program, the charging units are installed at no cost to property owners and the program covers two years of networking and software fees.

The priority communities in the EV charger program include low-income, rural, tribal and other priority populations defined by the California Public Utilities Commission and California Air Resources Board.

“At PG&E, we’re proud of the work we are doing to help make EV ownership more affordable. Income-eligible customers can save thousands of dollars by enrolling in the California Alternate Rates for Energy and Pre-Owned EV Rebate programs, and they can receive a free EV charger and save even more on their energy costs,” said Krefta.