Commercial, Distributed Energy Resources, GHG Emissions  -  July 29, 2024

South Pasadena Police Department Switches to EVs 

The South Pasadena Police Department completely replaced its gasoline-powered vehicles with electric vehicles.

The city's zero-emission police fleet of 20 new Teslas will rely on several new electric vehicle chargers installed at South Pasadena City Hall. 

In addition, City Hall, the Police Station, and the Fire Station buildings will be backed up by a solar-powered system with battery storage that adds critical power resilience in the event of an outage.

"This transition reflects the city's vision of a sustainable future based on both sound fiscal management and environmental stewardship," said South Pasadena Mayor Evelyn Zneimer in a statement.  "The City Council is fully behind this transition.  We will have a 21st Century police force that is safe, clean and saves taxpayer dollars.  We're very excited to be working with our regional and corporate partners to make this happen."

The project included the construction of 34 chargers at South Pasadena City Hall. Under its Charge Ready program, Southern California Edison upgraded its local distribution system to supply the higher level of power needed to energize the vehicles and installed the underground wiring needed to install the chargers.

In addition to installing a solar system canopy over the adjacent parking lot, the Clean Power Alliance's Power Ready Program will reserve a portion of battery capacity from a renewable solar and battery energy storage system in case of an outage. The batteries will be used daily for grid and energy optimization.

The project includes funding for more than half of the cost of the project from the following groups:

• Nearly $500,000 in Clean Transportation Funding from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC);
• Approximately $530,000 in work conducted by Southern California Edison under its Charge Ready program; and
• No cost solar and battery storage system from the Clean Power Alliance's Power Ready Program – a Local Programs benefit to CPA's member agencies.

The city's net expense is $1.85 million, which covers the cost of the EV chargers and lease payments to Enterprise Fleet Management.

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