With communities across Southern California seeking to accelerate electric vehicle adoption efforts, Black & Veatch announces the completion of 12 charging stations at Cathedral City High School (CCHS) in Palm Springs, California. The project, a key component in local decarbonization efforts, was made possible through ‘Charge Ready,’ a program from public utility Southern California Edison (SCE) launched to add charging stations in its service area.
Black & Veatch, a leading provider of electric and alternative fuel transportation infrastructure, provided construction services for 12 EV charging ports at the public high school. Run by SCE, the Charge Ready Schools Program is a $10-million, state-approved program that seeks to place EV charging infrastructure at K-12 schools throughout SCE’s service area for use by faculty, staff, students, and community members. The program is viewed as a critical step toward meeting the state’s goal of carbon neutrality by 2045.
In addition to providing additional charging infrastructure options, CCHS hopes the site will encourage students to choose EVs while also preparing the school for its planned adoption of a zero-emission fleet by 2035. Palm Springs Unified School District (PSUSD) aims to have all the district’s high schools similarly equipped within two years.
To date, Black & Veatch has provided design, engineering, and construction services at 35 sites within SCE’s Charge Ready suite of programs. An additional 67 sites currently are in design. Black & Veatch is one of several contractors SCE selected for the Charge Ready programs.
“Utilities have an important role to play in preparing communities to achieve the net-zero transition; and through the Charge Ready program, SCE is doing just that,” said Dean Siegrist, associate vice president, Black & Veatch. “We at Black & Veatch are proud to be involved in helping communities adopt more sustainable forms of transportation and in facilitating adoption of EVs for the young adults at Cathedral City High School.”
SCE’s Charge Ready program is one of several make-ready EV charging infrastructure programs across the nation. As one of the first, SCE’s program has served as a model for utilities to follow. Utilities invest in EV make-ready programs to prepare their service areas for electrification and to stimulate EV adoption by adding public charging infrastructure at key locations.
Other utilities in major metropolitan areas working on similar make-ready charging infrastructure programs include Georgia Power, New York Power Authority, Duke Energy, Xcel Energy, PG&E, Portland General Electric, and San Diego Gas and Electric.