*Accept and appropriate grant for $100,000 from Portland General Electric through the Transportation Matching Fund and authorize an agreement to support the Park and Charge: Leveraging Utility Pole-Mounted Chargers to Increase Access to Overnight Electric Vehicle Charging in Portland, Oregon Grant

The purpose of this ordinance is to have City Council accept an award of for $100,000 from Portland General Electric (PGE) through its Transportation Matching Fund to support the United States Department of Energy (US DOE) “Park and Charge” grant that PBOT has been awarded. The US DOE “Park and Charge” grant requires a 50% local match. Part of that local match is being supplied by this $100,000 award from Portland General Electric’s Transportation Matching Fund program. The US DOE “Park and Charge” grant is also being brought to City Council for acceptance in a separate ordinance. These generous matching funds from PGE helped enable the award of the highly competitive US DOE “Park and Charge” grant that advances progress on the City’s adopted Climate Emergency Workplan [Resolution 37585] and begins implementation of the City-adopted Electric Vehicle Charging in the Right-of-Way program [Ordinance 191187] with a strong focus on equity through addressing access to an affordability of EV charging, an obstacle to EV ownership for renters and residents with garages or driveways.

This funding will cover community engagement activities that are part of the US DOE grant “Park and Charge: Leveraging Utility Pole-Mounted Chargers to Increase Access to Overnight EV Charging in Portland, Oregon.” The US DOE grant, which has a total budget of $3,562,560 (low confidence estimate) required at least a 50% local match. The local match total is $1,781,969 and is fulfilled through both in-kind match from the City of Portland, Portland General Electric, and PacifiCorps as well as through this $100,000 cash award from the Portland General Electric Transportation Matching Funds. The US DOE “Park and Charge” grant is also being brought to City Council for acceptance in a separate ordinance. The project number is T01344. The grant number is TR000370. The FY 2023-2024 budget is hereby amended as follows: GRANTS FUND Fund – 217 Business Area – TR00 Bureau Program Expenses – $100,000

Community impacts: This award will support the US DOE “Park and Charge” grant which seeks to develop a utility pole-mounted EV charging network focused on filling private sector gaps and providing access to affordable and reliable overnight charging to communities that lack access to home charging. EV drivers predominantly charge their vehicles at home to maximize cost effectiveness and convenience, but renters must rely on their landlords to make upgrades or seek more expensive public charging. As state and federal rebates have helped EVs achieve price parity, access to, and affordability of charging have emerged as the main obstacles to EV ownership. This barrier disproportionately impacts black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC) communities in Portland as they have lower homeownership rates compared to White households. This project builds upon successful pilots and projects in other municipalities to demonstrate a model of public charging that prioritizes investments in underserved communities. Community involvement: PBOT has been engaged in policy and code work related to EV charging in the public right-of-way for over a year through the Electric Vehicle Charging in the Public Right-of-Way Code Project [Ordinance 191187]. As part of this process, staff have interviewed key stakeholders from utilities, private for-hire transportation, and local electrification and sustainability groups. Staff have also talked to community members and participated in the BPS EV Ready Code project where further insights into community opinions around EV charging were gained. Finally, staff engaged with parking district advisory committees, with disability and accessibility advocates, and with industry stakeholders during this process. Stakeholders included representatives from seven international EV charging companies and local utilities. Additionally, this project advances Action T-7 (make it easier to use electric vehicles if you can’t charge at home) in the Climate Emergency Workplan [Resolution 37585], which had a robust community involvement process.