Many are familiar with California’s edict that by 2035, the sales of all new passenger vehicles in the state must be zero-emission. What’s less well-known is that state regulations also require state and local agencies to meet the target at a much quicker rate. According to California Air Resour ces Board regulations,100% of purchases of new medium- and heavy-duty vehicles for government fleets must be zero-emission starting Jan. 1, 2027. With that in mind, construction crews were busy digging trenches and doing other retrofitting work at the Helix Water District‘s operations center in El Cajon on Friday morning. Kevin Miller (left), director of operations at the Helix Water District, and Joe Goruba, facilities manager, look over trench work done as part of an million project to transition the water utility’s fleet of vehicles to zero-emissions. (Rob Nikolewski/The San Diego Union-Tribune) The public utility that distributes water to 278,000 people in San Diego’s East County suburbs has broken ground on an $11 million project that will install infrastructure — such as charging stations — that will help the utility eventually transition its fleet to zero-emission vehicles. “The $11 million includes engineering design, the construction costs and the acquisition of all the material,” such as the charging units, said Kevin Miller, director of operations at the Helix Water District. “We also have funding available to put a software solution in place to basically run the system.” Construction is anticipated to be completed by the end of the first quarter of next year. The water district’s current fleet comprises 86 medium- and heavy-duty vehicles that run on gasoline or renewable diesel fuel, 10 all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning trucks and eight plug-in hybrids. The utility will not immediately transition to a fleet made up solely of zero-emission vehicles. Rather, as each internal combustion car and service truck reaches the end of its useful life, it will be replaced by a vehicle that meets the state’s mandate. With the help of the software system, charging the fleet’s electric vehicles will be coordinated to ensure the Helix Water District can maintain the same amount of dependability it currently has with its diesel and gas-powered vehicles. “We’re a 24/7, 365 (days a year) response agency,” Miller said. “So if we have a (water) main break in the middle of the night or any water emergency, we have to have all of our equipment charged and ready to go.” An $11 million price tag is hefty, but the cost has been largely defrayed by multiple grants water district officials obtained. Helix received $5.2 million from the San Diego County Air Pollution Control District, a $2.2 million grant from San Diego Gas & Electric’s Power Your Drive for Fleets program and $1.5 million through the Disadvantaged Community Electric Vehicle Charger Rebate Program. The water district may also snag a $750,000 grant from the California Energy Commission. “We still have some stuff to submit on that, but it’s looking promising,” said facilities manager Joe Garuba. The balance will be funded by Helix but, Miller said, “because we got grant funding with our partners, we’re able to keep our rates flat and that burden doesn’t get passed onto the ratepayers themselves.” The $11 million project does not include the cost of buying the EVs that will gradually blend into the Helix fleet. Zero-emissions vehicles have higher sticker prices than cars and trucks with internal combustion engines, but Helix officials believe that in the long run, the costs to ratepayers will even out. First, they anticipate lower maintenance costs with the EVs compared to conventional vehicles. Second, the water district said by going electric, it can avoid the volatility of fuel prices. “It’s not unusual to see swings of 25% to 30% during the course of the year in fuel pricing,” Garuba said. “Electrical rates are a lot more stable … If you look at that cradle to grave approach on the cost of ownership, it really sort of nets itself out.” One of the all-electric Ford F-150 Lightning trucks in the current fleet of vehicles of the Helix Water District. (Rob Nikolewski/The San Diego Union-Tribune) Once the project is completed, Helix will share its charging infrastructure with neighboring agencies that also need to transition their fleets to meet the state mandate, such as San Diego County, the cities of San Diego and El Cajon, and the Otay, Sweetwater and Lakeside water districts. “It makes sense from a regional standpoint, when you’re looking at how to make a regulation like this work,” Miller said. “We can’t look at this myopically. We have to look at the big picture.” When those agencies use the Helix infrastructure, they must reimburse the cost of the electricity they use. “If they plug in, they will be paying for that,” Miller said. “So our ratepayers are not going to be covering the electric demands of other entities.” The Helix Water District distributes water to customers in La Mesa, El Cajon, Lemon Grove, Spring Valley and other unincorporated areas of San Diego County. It maintains 742 miles of pipelines, valves, hydrants and meters. The EV infrastructure project was approved on a 5-0 vote by the water district’s board of directors, who are elected. “This project will be a model for other agencies working to electrify their fleets and help the cities we serve meet their climate action plan goals,” Dan McMillan, Helix Water District board president, said in a statement. ...read more read less