Clean energy provider Ava Community Energy plans to expand access to public electric vehicle charging stations across its service territory. As part of the energy provider’s new partnership with Calibrant Energy (a joint venture between Macquarie and Siemens Financial Services), Ava will deploy 86 public direct-current fast chargers (DCFCs) across 11 sites in six cities.
Ava’s partnership with Calibrant comes on the heels of the provider’s 2023 partnership with EV Realty, which will build 32 additional chargers in downtown Oakland, California, demonstrating an ongoing commitment to driving access to electric mobility resources and infrastructure across Northern California.
“The partnership between Calibrant Energy and Ava is another step closer to making the energy transition more achievable,” says Matt Walz, CEO of Calibrant. “As demand grows, this is an exciting time for EVs, and collaborations like this will ensure success. Calibrant is proud to support Ava’s commitment to lowering the barriers consumers may face with EVs and charging stations.”
To help expedite California’s goals for decarbonized transportation, Ava is proactively taking innovative steps to scale the adoption of zero-emission vehicles (ZEVs). Through a first-of-its-kind procurement approach that mirrors power purchase agreements (PPAs) traditionally used for wind, solar and battery storage projects, Ava is using an energy tolling agreement structure to finance its EV charging network. The firm will pay a monthly fixed, capacity-based fee to deploy Ava charging stations across its service territory.
Ava’s partners Calibrant and EV Realty will help develop up to the first 11 fast-charging hubs of Ava’s DC fast-charging network, which will be situated across Hayward, Livermore, Oakland, Piedmont, Pleasanton and San Leandro, Calif. Ava’s DC fast-chargers will be powered using its Renewable 100 service — which is certified by the California Air Resource Board (CARB) as a zero carbon intensity (CI) transportation fuel — and will be available to the public 24/7.
The charging partnership with Calibrant is slated to come online in 2025, and Ava’s EV Realty partnership plans to see project completion by the end of 2024. Ava plans to continue building publicly available fast chargers to give residents access to affordable EV charging.
To help bridge the gap to widespread, reliable and affordable charging infrastructure for underserved communities, Ava will locate all EV fast-charging sites in publicly accessible municipal parking lots, garages and right-of-way parking spaces near “multifamily hotspots” — areas with dense concentrations of renters, who make up nearly 50% of Ava’s customers. Additionally, each charging station will be in proximity to local businesses and services for increased convenience.
