We're supercharged about our upcoming new electric vehicle (EV) chargers! This month, SoCalGas broke ground at its first facilities in Compton to install 29 EV chargers executed by GreenWealth Energy, California's 1st certified woman, minority-owned EV Charging infrastructure company.
We pledged to place 1,500 chargers at 65 company facilities by the end of 2024 and this first batch is expected to be completed next year. These chargers are a critical part of our ASPIRE 2045 sustainability strategy, which includes replacing 50% of our over-the-road fleet with clean fuel vehicles by 2025 and operating a 100% zero-emission fleet by 2035.
“We’re excited to do our part in reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector,” said Sandra Hrna, vice president of supply chain and operations support at SoCalGas. “Employees driving clean fuel company vehicles and having access to EV chargers for their personal vehicles will help SoCalGas and California reach their shared climate and air quality goals.”
“We are honored to work with SoCalGas and install chargers that will help decarbonize one of the hardest to abate sectors of the economy,” said Ariel Fan Founder and CEO of GreenWealth Energy. “It’s critical for companies to create partnerships tackling climate action today."
In addition, we’ll be purchasing electric vans and Ford F-150 Lightning trucks to be serviced by the new chargers. A full charge on one of the trucks provides a driving range of up to 300 miles. The vehicles charged at these stations will be powered almost exclusively by renewable electricity.
To support our efforts, we applied for SoCal Edison’s Charge Ready program, which provides assistance for installation of electrical infrastructure and EV charging stations.
"Electrifying transportation, including fleets, is critical to achieving California’s climate goals,” said Chanel Parson, SCE director of Electrification. “We’re glad we can join with SoCalGas in their effort toward cleaning the air we breathe and reducing harmful greenhouse gas emissions."
We’ll also break ground at other facilities within our territory early next year, some of which will feature a Level 3 charger for employees to charge company vehicles quickly during the day.
To help reach our goal of replacing 50% of the company's over-the-road fleet with clean fuel vehicles by 2025, we recently announced our continued partnership with Landi Renzo to convert an additional 200 of our Ford F-250 service pickup trucks to run on renewable natural gas (RNG). Earlier this year, we also purchased 50 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCEV), making us among the first utilities in the nation to start transitioning to hydrogen-powered vehicles.
In addition to converting our fleet vehicles to zero-emissions models, nearly all of our buildings are powered by renewable electricity and we’ve reduced methane emissions from our system by nearly 40% since 2015, efforts that are expected to help reach California’s carbon neutrality goals.
Learn more at https://www.socalgas.com/sustainability.
