SV Clean Energy Plugs into Innovation Ecosystem for Latest Round of Pilot Programs  

“Property managers looking to install chargers at multifamily properties may face barriers such as installation costs, complex stakeholder relationships, and billing challenges,” said SVCE CEO Monica Padilla. “The selected pilot projects aim to reduce these barriers, enabling local properties to meet the growing demand for EV charging. The transition to a clean future must be available for all our customers, and SVCE is glad to leverage the innovation in Silicon Valley to identify scalable solutions for our local multifamily tenants.”  

SVCE has offered a variety of programs designed to increase EV charging at multifamily properties. Through these programs, the agency identified that difficulties for property owners in accurately assigning charging costs to tenants is a significant barrier to EV charging installations. While some software exists to address this barrier, those solutions can often lead to increased costs for the overall system which are commonly passed through to tenants. The projects selected for Innovation Onramp aim to address this barrier with two different approaches, without increasing the driver’s cost to charge.  

Two projects will offer a solution that enables property owners to assign charging costs based on virtual submetering. This approach accurately estimates energy use which can then be assigned as charges to the applicable tenant. SWTCH Energy Inc. will deploy Level 2 chargers with automatic real-time load management and Pando Electric Inc. will utilize smart outlets that optimize for time-of-use (TOU) rates. 

EV Plugbox will deploy direct wiring through a patented switching device, offering a low-cost, low-maintenance, scalable solution by rerouting wiring between parking spaces and residential meters. This approach sidesteps the need for the property owner to assign EV charging to a tenant by ensuring that the charger is wired directly to the EV driver’s unit, so that all energy used is charged directly to that tenant’s electricity bill.  

Multifamily properties interested in participating in these pilot programs can contact programs@svcleanenergy.org for more information.  

The SVCE Innovation Onramp program was launched in 2019 to foster innovative solutions to climate change and decarbonization challenges with forward-thinking projects. Since the program’s launch, SVCE has awarded $1.1M to thirteen startup partners. See past Innovation Onramp projects at svcleanenergy.org/innovation-pilots/.