Title
a. Receive a presentation on the Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy for the County of Monterey and provide any direction to staff regarding the policy;
b. Adopt the Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy for all Monterey County vehicles to become effective 1/1/2023; and
c. Provide other direction to staff as necessary
Report
RECOMMENDATION:
It is recommended that the members of the Board of Supervisors:
a. Receive a presentation on the Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy for the County of Monterey and provide any direction to staff regarding the policy;
b. Adopt the Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy for all Monterey County vehicles to become effective 1/1/2023; and
c. Provide other direction to staff as necessary
SUMMARY:
On October 26, 2021, the Sustainability Program gave a presentation to the Board of Supervisors in response to referral 2021.14 regarding EV charging station (EVCS) accessibility in the County. At that time, staff recommended adopting a Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy along with several other measures, including a recommendation to explore a “reach code” with respect to EV charging at Multi-Family Unit dwellings and the Board recommended that staff explore these concepts further. A “reach code” refers to a local building energy code that “reaches” beyond the state minimum requirements in building design and construction, creating opportunities for local governments to lead the way on clean air, climate solutions, and the renewable energy economy. On November 17, 2021, staff shared information with Department Heads regarding the Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy at the Department Head Meeting. In addition, staff met with and gathered feedback from department heads in ITD, Health, Probation, PWFP, CAO, Fleet, Facilities, Maintenance, and Contracts Purchasing staff in regards to transitioning to an all-electric fleet Then, on March 24, 2022, the Alternative Energy and Environment Committee received a follow up presentation to referral 2021.14 where two EVCS vendors presented on ownership models and hardware systems so the County could better understand options for fleet transition. Since then, staff has met with other jurisdictions in the Central Coast Region, including the County of Santa Barbra to learn about their fleet electrification process and EVCS deployment strategies to learn best practices and streamline the process. On July 28, 2022, Staff presented a draft Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy to transition the County’s fleet to zero emissions vehicles to the Alternative Energy and Environment Committee and the Committee recommended that the County Board of Supervisors adopt the policy.
DISCUSSION:
On August 24th, 2021, the Sustainability Program received a referral requesting that the Sustainability Program Manager assess the existing Electric Vehicle Charging Stations (EVCS) in Monterey County. This referral guided the sustainability department in not only addressing EVCS infrastructure but also in analyzing Monterey County’s fleet, and the potential for electrification in line with California’s draft Advanced Clean Fleet (ACF) regulations. Consequently, staff is bringing forward a Fleet Electrification Policy for County vehicles today and will be bringing forward recommendations regarding a reach code during this year’s building code update.
The (ACF) regulation is part of a statewide strategy to reduce emissions from transportation and to accelerate the market for zero-emission vehicles where feasible. The most immediate impact of this draft regulation is that all state and local government fleets, including county, special district, and state agency fleets, would be required to ensure 50 percent of vehicle purchases are zero-emission beginning in 2024 and 100 percent of vehicle purchases are zero-emission by 2027. There is no clear timeline for when the draft regulation will become final. However, the policy has an implementation start date of 2024, so it can be estimated that the final approval of the regulation will happen in early 2023. The adoption of the proposed Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy now, would allow the County to work on a strategic transition and lead the way as this draft regulation is meant to be adopted shortly. Additionally, it is anticipated that any zero emission vehicles purchased prior to the adoption of this draft regulation would qualify for the 50 percent vehicle purchases needed for the 2024 requirement.
The Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy states that all departments and divisions should prioritize the purchasing of zero emission vehicles (ZEV), unless it is deemed infeasible through one of the qualifying exemptions. There are several exemptions including an option for situations where no viable ZEV option is available for purchase in the current vehicle market, or a ZEV does not meet the functional operational requirements to fulfill intended County services, such as: vehicle type, rated towing capacity, maximum required daily milage exceeds ZEV range, requires specialized outfitting, TCO is more than 10% higher, and EVCS accessibility. At the recommendation of the Alternative Energy and Environment, the EVCS accessibility exemption has been increased in breadth to allow for an exemption in cases where an EVCS is further than ¼ mile away from the intended parking location of the vehicle and it would not be reasonably feasible to charge the vehicle overnight at a county facility.
To pursue an exemption for a ZEV purchase, a Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy Exemption Form must be completed and submitted to the Fleet Manager for review and approval. Following an exemption approval, the following options shall be considered in the following order when considering a replacement vehicle to ensure the maximum emissions reductions possible.
1) Defer purchasing a vehicle if a ZEV market option will be available and/or infrastructure will be installed in less than three years.
2) Lease or purchase a plug-in hybrid electric vehicle if available in the market.
3) Lease or purchase a hybrid-electric fuel vehicle if available in the market.
4) Lease or purchase an internal combustion engine (fossil fuel, flex-fuel or bio-fuel, ethanol, renewable diesel, etc.) powered vehicle, that has the highest EPA Greenhouse Gas Rating score.
One of the significant benefits counties are realizing from fleet electrification is cost savings. The Sustainability Program conducted a Total Cost of Ownership analysis for an Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) vehicle compared to a similar Electric Vehicle. During this analysis staff looked at the Nissan Leaf (EV) and Dodge Charger (ICE), estimating an approximate cost savings of $30,716.86 over the vehicle's lifetime. This cost savings reflects the price of gas at $5.00 per gallon and the cost of electricity to be $0.25 per kWh. The Sustainability Program has developed a costs savings calculator reflecting the Total Costs of Ownership (TCO) formula to quickly and accurately find the TCO for any vehicle. This calculator can easily be updated to reflect the most updated gas and electricity prices to ensure an accurate calculation.
The early adoption of the proposed Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy would set an example and lead the way as regulations for all electric and zero emission public fleets are expected in the coming years. The adoption of this policy would provide additional funding opportunities and allow the county to get a head start on transitioning the fleet.
One of the primary concerns raised by Department Heads was a lack of charging station infrastructure. At this time, Monterey County owns and operates at least 16 ChargePoint EV charging ports in the form of eight stations at the following locations: 1441 Schilling Pl., 168 W Alisal St., 1428 Abbot St., and 522 N. 2nd St. These stations are seeing an average utilization of 30.81% from June 12th through July 12th, 2022, leaving significant room for additional charging. This data implies that the County can grow its current fleet of electric vehicles without an immediate need to grow existing EVCS infrastructure. However, the existing stations may not be located near the intended parking location for many fleet vehicles. In order to address this, the Sustainability Program is currently working to bring in funding for charging stations from various sources and has secured more than $1M of outside funding to date. The program expects the County’s EVCS infrastructure to expand over the next couple of years with 28 planned EVCS installations at the following locations: 1590 Moffett St. (four stations this fiscal year), 1270 Natividad Rd. (two stations this fiscal year), 1331 Sanborn Rd. (two stations- planned), 1410 Natividad Rd. (10 stations- part of the Zero Carbon Resiliency project), 240 Church St. (10 stations- part of the planned parking garage) and the libraries of Castroville, Gonzales and San Lucas. This would significantly increase the County’s ability to comfortably and universally expand to the purchase of electric vehicles. If the County adopts a Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy, funding agencies will have assurance that the county is dedicated to the transition to a zero-emission fleet, and the county would qualify for $100,000 of funding through Central Coast Community Energy.
OTHER AGENCY INVOLVEMENT:
Fleet, PWFP, C/P, Health, ITD, HCD.
FINANCING:
There is no financial impact from receiving this report. It is expected that the adoption of this policy would result in an overall savings to the County.
BOARD OF SUPERVISORS STRATEGIC INITIATIVES:
__Economic Development
_X_ Administration
_X_Health & Human Services
_X_ Infrastructure
__Public Safety
Prepared by: Ashley Paulsworth, Sustainability Program Manager, x 5344
Approved by: Nicholas E. Chiulos, Assistant County Administrative Officer, Ext. 5145
Attachments:
Draft Clean Fleet Purchasing Policy
Advanced Clean Fleets Regulation Summary