GFO-25-605 – Reliable Electric Charging for Eligible School-bus Sites (RECESS)

GRANT FUNDING OPPORTUNITY

Clean Transportation Program

Reliable Electric Charging for

Eligible School-Bus Sites (RECESS)

GFO-25-605

Solicitation Information

https://www.energy.ca.gov/funding-opportunities/solicitations

State of California

California Energy Commission

April 2026

Table of Contents

Attachments

1	Application Form
2	Funding Lane 2 Project Narrative
3	Funding Lane 3 Project Narrative
4	Scope of Work (Informational Only)
5	Schedule of Products and Due Dates (Informational Only)
6	Budget Forms (Informational Only for Funding Lane 1)
7	Letters of Commitment
8	Letter of Intent to Place a Purchase Order AND/OR Letter Indicating Need for New Infrastructure
9	Evaluation Criteria for Priority Populations
10	California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Worksheet (Informational Only for Funding Lane 1)
11	Past Performance Reference Form(s)
12	Applicant Declaration

I. Introduction

A. Purpose of Solicitation

This is a multi-funding lane grant solicitation (first come, first served and competitive) with minimum requirements and certain conditions as further described in this manual. The California Energy Commission’s (CEC’s) Clean Transportation Program announces the availability of up to $22,000,000 in grant funds for projects that will install electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure for electric school buses.

B. Background

Assembly Bill (AB) 118 (Nuñez, Chapter 750, Statutes of 2007), created the Clean Transportation Program. The statute authorizes the CEC to develop and deploy alternative and renewable fuels and advanced transportation technologies to help attain the state’s climate change and clean air goals. AB 126 (Reyes, Chapter 319, Statutes of 2023) reauthorized the funding program through July 1, 2035 and focused the program on zero-emission transportation.

The Clean Transportation Program has an annual budget of approximately $100 million and provides financial support for projects that:

• Develop and deploy zero-emission technology and fuels in the marketplace.

• Produce alternative and renewable low-carbon fuels in California.

• Deploy zero-emission fueling infrastructure, fueling stations, and equipment.

• Establish workforce training programs and conduct public outreach on the benefits of alternative transportation fuels and vehicle technologies.

Additionally, the Budget Acts of 2021 and 2022 (Chapters 21, 69, and 240, Statutes of 2021 and Chapters 43, 45, and 249, Statutes of 2022) appropriated one-time funding from the General Fund to support infrastructure deployments, emerging opportunities, and manufacturing projects for zero-emission light-duty and medium- and heavy-duty vehicles.

C. Commitment to Diversity

The CEC is committed to ensuring that participation in its programs and funding opportunities reflects the rich and diverse characteristics of California and its people. To meet this commitment, CEC staff conducts activities to:

• Ensure potential new applicants throughout the state are aware of CEC’s programs and the funding opportunities.

• Encourage greater participation by underrepresented groups including disabled veteran-, women-, minority-, and lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ)-owned businesses.

• Assist applicants in understanding how to apply for funding from CEC’s programs.

D. Key Activities and Dates

Key activities including dates and times for this solicitation are presented below. An addendum will be released if the dates change for the asterisked (*) activities. Times listed are Pacific Standard Time or Pacific Daylight Time, whichever is being observed.

ACTIVITY	ACTION DATE
Solicitation Release	April 06, 2026
Pre-Application Workshop*	April 16, 2026
Deadline for Written Questions*	April 27, 2026
Anticipated Distribution of Questions/Answers	Week of May 11, 2026
Support for Application Submission in the Energy Commission Agreement Management System (ECAMS) until 5:00 p.m.	Ongoing until June 5, 2026
Deadline to Submit Applications by 11:59 p.m.*	June 5,2026
Anticipated Notice of Proposed Awards Posting	Funding Lane 1: Ongoing as needed. Final NOPA posted week of August 3, 2026 Funding Lane 2 and 3: Week of August 3, 2026
Anticipated CEC Business Meeting	October/November 2026

E. How Award Is Determined

Applicants may apply for funding in only one of three funding lanes based on their eligibility as described in Section II. Eligibility Requirements of this manual. Table 1 shows how the award per applicant is determined by each funding lane.

Table 1: How Award is Determined by Funding Lane

FUNDING LANE	HOW AWARD IS DETERMINED
Funding Lane 1	Applicants passing administrative and technical screening described in Section IV will be recommended for funding on a first-come, first-served basis. Applicants whose applications do not pass administrative or technical screening may modify and resubmit if the application period is still open. Resubmitted applications will be processed as a new application and on a first-come, first-served basis.
Funding Lane 2	Applicants passing administrative and technical screening described in Section IV will compete based on the evaluation criteria in Section IV.E. A minimum score of 70 percent is required to be eligible for funding. Also, applications must receive a minimum score of 70 percent on the Technical Evaluation Criterion for Project Implementation and Readiness to be eligible for funding. Applications obtaining at least the minimum passing score (70 percent) will be ranked by the highest score and recommended for funding until all funds available under Funding Lane 2 are exhausted.
Funding Lane 3	Applicants passing administrative and technical screening described in Section IV will compete based on the evaluation criteria in Section IV.E. A minimum score of 70 percent is required to be eligible for funding. Also, applications must receive a minimum score of 70 percent on the Technical Evaluation Criterion for Project Implementation and Readiness to be eligible for funding. Applications obtaining at least the minimum passing score (70 percent) will be ranked by the highest score and recommended for funding until all funds available under Funding Lane 3 are exhausted.

If the funds available under this solicitation are insufficient to fully fund a grant proposal, CEC reserves the right to recommend partially funding that proposal. In this event, the proposed Applicant/Awardee and Commission Agreement Manager (CAM) shall meet and attempt to reach agreement on a reduced scope of work commensurate with the level of available funding.

Additionally, the CEC reserves the right to reallocate the amount of funds dedicated to a funding lane under this solicitation, add funds to a funding lane, decrease funds dedicated to a funding lane, and is not required to add funds to funding lanes equally. If electing to add funds to the solicitation, the CEC is not required to add funds to the funding lane with higher scoring non-funded applications.

F. Availability of Funds

A total of $22,000,000 is available for awards under this solicitation. CEC, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to increase or decrease the amount of funds available under this solicitation.

G. Funding Lanes

This solicitation has three funding lanes. Applicants may apply for funding in only one of three funding lanes based on their eligibility as described in Section II A. Eligibility Requirements of this manual.

Funding Lane 1: Funding for electric school bus charging infrastructure projects at local educational agencies that received Clean Truck and Bus Incentive Project (HVIP) Public School Bus Set Aside Year 1 or Year 2 funded electric school buses, but who did not receive the CEC’s Energy Infrastructure Incentives for Zero-Emission Commercial Vehicles Project (EnergIIZE) Public School Bus Set Aside Year 1 or Year 2 infrastructure funding, to which $4,000,000 of the available funds are dedicated. Table 4 in Section II.A.1 shows eligible Applicants under this funding lane. Funding for Funding Lane 1 is available on a first-come, first-served basis.

Funding Lane 2: Funding for electric school bus charging infrastructure projects that will support existing and future electric school bus deployments by local educational agencies as defined in Section II.A.1, to which $9,000,000 of the available funds are dedicated. Funding for Funding Lane 2 is available on a competitive basis.

Funding Lane 3: Funding for electric school bus charging infrastructure projects that will support existing and future electric school bus deployments by third-party transportation providers who serve local educational agencies, to which $9,000,000 of the available funds are dedicated. Funding for Funding Lane 3 is available on a competitive basis.

For the purposes of this solicitation, local educational agencies include California public school districts, public charter schools, Joint Power Authorities, and County Offices of Education that serve K-12th grade students.

For the purposes of this solicitation, third-party transportation providers are defined as transportation service providers that own and maintain school buses and provide transportation services to K-12th grade students from local educational agencies. Third-party transportation providers do not include Joint Power Authorities. Joint Power Authorities are only eligible under Funding Lane 2. More eligibility information can be found in Section II.A.

H. Maximum Award Amounts

Maximum award amounts are determined by the single applicant cap by funding lane as shown in Table 2 and the type of charger proposed to be installed as shown in Table 3. The award amount per charger type can cover all eligible costs associated with the procurement and installation of the grid-connected charger and other eligible infrastructure project costs after the aforementioned costs are fully covered. See Section II.D. for eligible project costs.

Applicants can use the following equation to calculate their maximum award amount:

(Number of Level 2 charging ports to be installed x $20,000)

+ (Number of Dual Port Direct Current Fast Chargers to be installed x $75,000)

= Maximum award amount, up to the single applicant cap by funding lane

For the purposes of this solicitation, a charger is defined as a device with one or more charging ports for charging EVs. A charging port is defined as the system within a charger that charges one EV. A charging port may have multiple connectors, but it can provide power to charge only one EV through one connector at a time.

Applicants can only apply to purchase and install at maximum one grid-connected charging port per electric school bus that they can demonstrate need for. For example, an Applicant can apply for two dual port grid-connected chargers (four ports total) if they can demonstrate they have four electric school buses that need supporting charging infrastructure. The Applicant could propose to install one dual port grid-connected Level 2 (L2) charger and one dual port grid-connected direct current fast charger (DCFC) and be eligible for a maximum award of $95,000 for its infrastructure project. More information on how an Applicant demonstrates need is discussed in Section II.B.

Table 2: Single Applicant Cap by Funding Lane

FUNDING LANE	Single Applicant Cap
Funding Lane 1	Applicants are eligible for infrastructure funding that supports the installation of charging ports up to the number of HVIP Public School Bus Set Aside funded electric school buses they received in Year 1 or Year 2*. See Table 4. The CEC reserves the right to modify this single applicant cap.
Funding Lane 2	Applicants are eligible for infrastructure funding that supports the installation of charging ports for existing and future electric school buses with a demonstrated need. However, there is a single applicant cap of 25 percent of Funding Lane 2’s total funding, or $2,250,000. The CEC reserves the right to modify this single applicant cap.
Funding Lane 3	Applicants are eligible for infrastructure funding that supports the installation of charging ports for existing and future electric school buses with a demonstrated need. However, there is a single applicant cap of 25 percent of Funding Lane 3’s total funding, or $2,250,000 for an Applicant that serves one local educational agency. If an Applicant serves more than one local educational agency, there is a single Applicant cap of 50 percent of Funding Lane 3’s total funding, or $4,500,000. The CEC reserves the right to modify this single applicant cap.

* Local educational agencies eligible under Funding Lane 1 may apply for up to the maximum number of charging ports shown in Table 4, or they can apply under Funding Lane 2 for more than the maximum number of charging ports shown in Table 4. The Application requirements for each funding lane are described in Section III. An Applicant cannot apply to more than one funding lane.

Table 3: Maximum Award Amounts by Charger Type

CHARGER TYPE	MAXIMUM AWARD AMOUNT
L2 Charging Port	$20,000
Dual Port DCFC or Dual Port Bidirectional DCFC	$75,000

All DCFCs or bidirectional DCFCs proposed to be installed under this grant solicitation must be dual port. For the purposes of this solicitation, a L2 charger is defined as a charger that operates on 208 volts to 240 volts and transfers alternative current (AC) electricity to a device in an EV that converts AC to direct current (DC) to charge an EV’s battery. A DCFC is defined as a charger that enables rapid charging by delivering DC electricity directly to an EV’s battery. A bidirectional DCFC is defined as a charger that allows energy in an EV to be discharged back into the electrical grid. See Section II.C. for minimum technical requirements for the electric school bus charging stations.

I. Maximum Number of Applications

Applicants are only eligible to submit one application under this solicitation. Additionally, Applicants must choose only one funding lane when applying. An application may include multiple eligible project site locations, as described in Section II.

J. Agreement Execution Date

Funding agreements shall be executed by the funding Recipient within six (6) months following approval at a CEC Business Meeting. If this deadline is missed, the CEC reserves the right to cancel the proposed award and recommend funding for the next eligible proposal on the NOPA for the same funding lane, or another funding lane if passing applications are exhausted.

J. Pre-Application Workshop

There will be one Pre-Application Workshop; participation in this meeting is optional but encouraged. The Pre-Application Workshop will be held remotely through Zoom at the date, time and location listed below. Please call the Commission Agreement Officer (CAO) listed below or refer to CEC's solicitation information website at https://www.energy.ca.gov/funding-opportunities/solicitations to confirm the date and time.

April 16, 2026

9:00 AM Via Zoom

K. Participation Through Zoom

Zoom is the CEC's online meeting service. When attending remotely, presentations will appear on your computer/laptop/mobile device screen, and audio may be heard via the device or telephone. Please be aware that the Zoom meeting will be recorded.

Zoom Instructions:

To join this workshop, go to Zoom at https://energy.zoom.us/j/89761155418?pwd=XFuPb8nVYTCAD7qxYuDb3D4lpo25bs.1 You may also access the workshop by going to the Zoom webpage at https://join.zoom.us and enter the unique meeting ID and password below:

Meeting ID: 897 6115 5418

Meeting Password: 661413

Topic: Pre-Application Workshop – Reliable Electric Charging for Eligible School-bus Sites

Telephone Access Only:

Call (888) 853-5257 or (888) 475-4499 (toll-free). When prompted, enter the unique meeting ID number above. To comment over the telephone, dial *9 to “raise your hand” and *6 to mute/unmute your phone line.

Access by Mobile Device:

Download the application from the Zoom Download Center at https://energy.zoom.us/download.

Technical Support:

For assistance with problems or questions about joining or attending the meeting, please call Zoom technical support at (888) 799-9666 ext. 2, or you may contact the CEC’s Public Advisor’s Office at publicadvisor@energy.ca.gov , or (916) 957-7910.

To determine whether your computer is compatible with Zoom, visit: this website : https://support.zoom.us/hc/en-us/articles/201362023-System-requirements-for-Windows-macOS-and-Linux.

L. Questions

During the solicitation process, for questions only related to submission of applications in ECAMS, please contact ECAMS.SalesforceSupport@energy.ca.gov . By contacting this email address, Applicants will be able to access a team of technical assistants who can answer questions about application submission. Please also see Section III for additional information about ECAMS.

Applicants may ask questions at the Pre-Application Workshop and may submit written questions via e-mail to the CAO listed in the following section. However, all technical questions must be received by the deadline listed in the “Key Activities and Dates” table above. Questions received after the deadline may be answered at the CEC's discretion. Non-technical questions (e.g., questions concerning application format requirements or attachment instructions) may be submitted to the CAO at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. of the application deadline date. Similarly, questions related to submission of applications in ECAMS may be submitted to ECAMS.SalesforceSupport@energy.ca.gov at any time prior to 5:00 p.m. of the application deadline date.

The question-and-answer set will be posted on the CEC’s solicitation information website at www.energy.ca.gov/funding-opportunities/solicitations.

Any verbal communication with a CEC employee concerning this solicitation is not binding on the State and shall in no way alter a specification, term, or condition of the solicitation. All communication must be directed in writing to the Commission Agreement Officer assigned to the solicitation.

M. Contact Information

Carissa Peri, Commission Agreement Officer

California Energy Commission

715 P Street, MS-1

Sacramento, California 95814

E-mail: carissa.peri@energy.ca.gov

N. Reference Documents

Applicants responding to this solicitation may want to familiarize themselves with the following documents:

• Assembly Bill 579

https://leginfo.legislature.ca.gov/faces/billNavClient.xhtml?bill_id=202320240AB579

• CalEnviroScreen

https://oehha.ca.gov/calenviroscreen

• California Climate Investments – Priority Populations. Priority Populations Resources — California Climate Investments

https://www.caclimateinvestments.ca.gov/resource-portal-priority-populations

• California Environmental Protection Agency. Final Designation of Disadvantaged Communities.

https://calepa.ca.gov/wp-content/uploads/sites/6/2022/05/Updated-Disadvantaged-Communities-Designation-DAC-May-2022-Eng.a.hp_-1.pdf

• Energy Commission Agreement Management System (ECAMS)

https://www.energy.ca.gov/funding-opportunities/funding-resources/ecams-resources

• HVIP Vehicle Catalog

https://californiahvip.org/vehicle-category/school-bus/?type=655

• 2025-2026 Investment Plan Update for the Clean Transportation Program Lead Commissioner Report (CEC-600-2025-033)

https://efiling.energy.ca.gov/GetDocument.aspx?tn=267717&DocumentContentId=104741

II. Eligibility Requirements

A. Applicant Requirements

1. Eligibility

This section defines eligible applicants for each funding lane.

Funding Lane 1: Local educational agencies that received HVIP Public School Bus Set Aside Year 1 or Year 2 funded electric school buses but did not receive EnergIIZE Public School Bus Set Aside Year 1 or Year 2 infrastructure funding. See Table 4 for a list of local educational agencies that are eligible to apply under Funding Lane 1 and the maximum number of charging ports that can be requested per Applicant.

Local educational agencies eligible under Funding Lane 1 may apply for up to the maximum number of charging ports shown in Table 4, or they can apply under Funding Lane 2 for more than the maximum number of charging ports shown in Table 4. The Application requirements for each funding lane are described in Section III. An Applicant cannot apply to more than one funding lane.

Table 4: Eligible Applicants for Funding Lane 1

ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY	MAXIMUM NUMBER OF CHARGING PORTS*
Adelanto Elementary School District	12
Alpine County Unified School District	2
Calaveras Unified School District	2
Calexico Unified School District	7
Columbia Union School District	1
Corning Union Elementary School District	2
Corning Union High School District	1
Durham Unified School District	2
Eastside Union School District	8
El Centro Elementary School District	3
Fillmore Unified School District	3
Hueneme Elementary School District	3
Jamestown Elementary School	2
Lake Tahoe Unified School District	10
Lassen View Union Elementary	1
Live Oak School District	1
Los Olivos Elementary School District	1
Meadows Union Elementary School District	4
North Monterey County Unified School District	6
Orland Joint Unified School District	2
Oroville City Elementary School District	3
Oroville Union High School District	1
Paso Robles Joint Unified School District	3
San Lorenzo Valley Unified School District	1
Soledad Unified School District	4
Ukiah Unified School District	4
Ventura Unified School District	4
Washington Unified School District	1
Western Placer Unified School District	4
Wilsona School District	1

*The maximum number of charging ports may decrease based on whether the CEC can confirm a purchase order was submitted for the corresponding HVIP Public School Bus Set-Aside buses. Local educational agencies eligible under Funding Lane 1 may apply for up to the maximum number of charging ports shown in Table 4, or they can apply under Funding Lane 2 for more than the maximum number of charging ports shown in Table 4. The Application requirements for each funding lane are described in Section III. An Applicant cannot apply to more than one funding lane.

Funding Lane 2: Local educational agencies. For the purposes of this solicitation, local educational agencies include California public school districts, public charter schools, Joint Power Authorities, and County Offices of Education that serve K-12th grade students. Private schools are not eligible applicants under this solicitation.

Funding Lane 3: Third-party transportation providers who serve local educational agencies. Third-party transportation providers must indicate what local educational agency(s) their charging infrastructure will serve in their application. Third party transportation providers must demonstrate an existing transportation service contract with the local educational agency(s) that will be in place during the entire agreement term in Letters of Commitment (Attachment 7).

For the purposes of this solicitation, third-party transportation providers are defined as transportation service providers that own and maintain school buses and provide transportation service to K-12th grade students from local educational agencies. If a third-party transportation provider serves both local educational agencies and private schools, the Applicant must demonstrate that the charging infrastructure proposed in the application will be used solely for public local educational agencies. Third-party transportation providers do not include Joint Power Authorities. Joint Power Authorities are only eligible under Funding Lane 2.

An Applicant must select only one funding lane in their application. A local educational agency applying in Funding Lane 1 or Funding Lane 2 cannot also be a local educational agency served in Funding Lane 3.

Eligible Applicants must have fifty (50) or fewer active projects across all CEC-funded zero-emission vehicle (ZEV) infrastructure grant agreements, including block grants, at the time of agreement execution. A project is considered “active” if it has been awarded under one of CEC’s grants or block grant programs and construction has not finished on the project; a request for final reimbursement has not been submitted; final reimbursement is pending; or the agreement term has not expired. The CEC reserves the right to modify this requirement.

2. Terms and Conditions

Each grant agreement resulting from this solicitation will include terms and conditions that set forth the grant recipient’s rights and responsibilities. By providing the authorizations and certifications required under this solicitation, each Applicant agrees to enter into an agreement, if awarded, with the CEC to conduct the proposed project according to the terms and conditions that correspond to its organization, without negotiation: (1) University of California and California State University terms and conditions; (2) U.S. Department of Energy terms and conditions; or (3) standard terms and conditions.

In addition to the applicable terms and conditions listed above, the following terms and conditions may apply to the Applicant: Special Terms and Conditions on Insolvency, Bankruptcy, or Receivership, and any other special terms and conditions required by the CEC. These terms and conditions are located at CEC's funding resources website at https://www.energy.ca.gov/funding-opportunities/funding-resources.

Failure to agree to the terms and conditions by taking actions such as failing to provide the required authorizations and certifications or indicating that acceptance is based on modification of the terms may result in rejection of the application. Applicants must read the terms and conditions carefully. The CEC reserves the right to modify the terms and conditions prior to executing grant agreements.

3. California Secretary of State Registration

All corporations, limited liability companies (LLCs), limited partnerships (LPs) and limited liability partnerships (LLPs) that conduct intrastate business in California are required to be registered and in good standing with the California Secretary of State prior to its project being recommended for approval at a CEC Business Meeting. If not currently registered with the California Secretary of State, Applicants and project team members (e.g., subrecipients) are encouraged to contact the Secretary of State’s Office as soon as possible to avoid potential delays in beginning the proposed project(s) (should the application be proposed for funding).

For more information, contact the Secretary of State’s Office via the Secretary of State Office’s website at www.sos.ca.gov. Sole proprietors using a fictitious business name must be registered with the appropriate county and provide evidence of registration to the CEC prior to their project being recommended for approval at a CEC Business Meeting.

B. Project Requirements

1. Eligible Projects

All proposed projects must include the installation of new charging infrastructure for electric school buses. To be eligible for funding, projects in all funding lanes must meet all the requirements in Section II.B. Project Requirements of this manual (unless indicated otherwise).

2. Project Location Requirements

• The proposed grid-connected and off-grid (if any) charging infrastructure must be located in a local educational agency’s or third-party transportation provider’s bus yard(s) or depot(s) in California.

• A single application may span multiple bus yards or depots, but the Applicant must demonstrate ownership or contractual right to access all project sites.

• The proposed grid-connected and off-grid (if any) charging infrastructure must be located at existing structures or facilities and involve negligible or no expansion of existing or former use.

3. Ownership and Usage Requirements

• The Applicant must be the owner of the electric school buses and all proposed charging infrastructure. Charging as a service is not eligible under this solicitation.

• Applicants in Funding Lane 3 must demonstrate site ownership or a contractual right to access the site where chargers will be installed in Letters of Commitment (Attachment 7). Documentation of site ownership or right to access may include, but is not limited to, an executed lease for the land on which the charging infrastructure will be installed.

• The purchased and installed charging infrastructure must be primarily utilized by the electric school buses identified in the application.

4. Infrastructure Deployment Requirements

• The Applicant must install a new grid-connected charging port for every electric school bus they demonstrate need for in their application. Charging ports must be able to provide recharging to an electric school bus, upon installation.

• Commercially available mobile and off-grid chargers and distributed energy resources, such as battery energy storage systems and/or solar photovoltaics, are eligible project costs if they are zero-emission. Distributed energy resources must also be separately metered for electric school bus charging.

o These project costs will only be eligible for reimbursement if funds are left over after fully covering the proposed grid-connected charger(s) and its associated installation costs. For example, if an Applicant proposes three grid-connected charging ports for their four electric school buses, the Applicant may use any remaining funds awarded for those three grid-connected charging ports to cover costs associated with a mobile and/or off-grid charger(s), after fully covering the grid-connected charger(s) and its associated installation costs. A mobile and/or off-grid charger cannot be proposed to be purchased in place of a grid-connected charging port, which is used to calculate the Maximum Award Amount as discussed in Section I. H.

• L2 or DCFC (including bidirectional capable DCFCs) charging ports are eligible under this solicitation as long as they meet the Minimum Technical Requirements for Electric School Bus Charging stations listed in Section II.C.

• Charging infrastructure must be purchased and installed for the first time and purchased after the execution date of the agreement.

• All projects must install new EV charging ports. Proposed charging ports may replace existing charging ports that are not operational and are not under warranty, with adequate justification and evidence provided in Letter Indicating Need for New Infrastructure (Attachment 8). Repairing charging ports or new parts installed in existing units is not eligible under this solicitation.

• A project that receives funding from another active CEC grant funding opportunity (GFO) or block grant incentive project is not eligible for this solicitation. An “active CEC project” is considered anything prior to commissioning of the EVSE.

• Applicants proposed for award must submit correspondence from the project site’s(s’) utility provider(s) to confirm the Applicant has engaged the utility about their proposed project. The correspondence must confirm the utility will provide necessary power at the project site(s) for the proposed electric school bus charging infrastructure within the applicant’s project timeline and that there is no existing contract in place that would obstruct the proposed installations or lead to extended project timelines. This correspondence must be provided within three (3) months of the release date of the Notice of Proposed Awards (NOPA) to the CAM who will contact the Applicant proposed for award. The CAM will not take the proposed award to a CEC Business Meeting for approval without first receiving this correspondence. The CEC reserves the right to cancel proposed awards that do not meet this deadline and recommend funding for the next eligible proposal on the NOPA for the same funding lane, or another funding lane if passing applications are exhausted. Examples of correspondence may include a letter, email, or copy of request for new service.

• All projects recommended for funding must complete the lead agency California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) process within three (3) months of the release date of the NOPA. The lead agency’s CEQA must be completed, and the CEC must receive confirmation of completion, before the proposed award is presented at a CEC Business Meeting for approval. The CEC reserves the right to cancel proposed awards that do not meet this CEQA compliance deadline and recommend funding for the next eligible proposal on the NOPA for the same funding lane, or another funding lane if passing applications are exhausted.

• Awarded projects must install the minimum number and type of EV charging ports proposed in its application. If the grant Recipient requests to change the scope of the project during the term of the grant agreement, the CEC reserves the right to decrease the budget accordingly.

• All charging ports must have a product warranty that covers both parts and labor and lasts at least six years post commissioning.

o This may be an extended warranty or an existing product warranty, depending on the service provider.

• All equipment must be able to withstand extreme weather conditions associated with the deployment area, including extreme temperature, flooding, heavy rains, and high winds, and display screens must be protected from malfunctions due to condensation and any local area weather conditions.

• The Applicant must operate each proposed charging port and maintain its operational status for a minimum of six (6) years after commissioning. If the current site ownership or access rights agreement for the proposed project location(s) is valid for less than the required six (6) years, the Applicant must commit to operating that charging port until the current agreement ends and make a good faith effort to extend the agreement or secure a contractual right to access the site to continue operation for the full six years. If an Applicant does not meet the six-year commitment, or if the Applicant closes the station shortly after six (6) years without good cause, the CEC may seek repayment of grant funds. Funding Lane 3 Applicants must submit a Letters of Commitment (Attachment 7) to confirm their commitment to operate the proposed charging infrastructure included in the application and explain any limitations to site ownership or their contractual right to access the site.

5. Data Collection

• Applications that result in proposed awards and executed agreements will be required to collect data from the project and perform recordkeeping and reporting on operations and reliability as specified in the Scope of Work (Attachment 4). Applicants should familiarize themselves with these requirements and ensure they have systems in place to comply.

6. Electric School Bus Deployment Requirements

• The electric school buses supported by the proposed charging infrastructure must either be new electric school buses being procured or existing electric school buses that are not in operation due to a lack of charging infrastructure.

• To ensure that charging infrastructure funded under this solicitation will be utilized, Applicants must either submit a Letter of Intent to Place a Purchase Order (Attachment 8) or a Letter Indicating Need for New Infrastructure (Attachment 8).

The Letter of Intent to Place a Purchase Order should reflect plans to place a purchase order within six (6) months of grant agreement execution. The letter must specify the type(s) and number(s) of electric school buses to be procured. All electric school buses to be procured must be on the HVIP Vehicle Catalog , which can be found at https://californiahvip.org/vehicle-category/school-bus/?type=655. If an Applicant cannot place a purchase order within six (6) months of agreement execution, the CEC reserves the right to cancel the award and offer funding to the next eligible Applicant on the NOPA list for the same funding lane, or another funding lane if passing applications are exhausted. Purchase orders for all proposed new electric school buses must be submitted before reimbursement for eligible project costs will be considered by the CEC.

While the purchase order must be placed within six (6) months of agreement execution, there is not a firm requirement by when the electric school buses must be delivered. Infrastructure lead times or electric school bus production lead times may vary. However, the electric school bus orders must take place and buses must be delivered by the time the infrastructure becomes energized and operational.

Applicants who already own electric school buses that are not in operation due to a lack of charging infrastructure or have recently placed a purchase order for electric school buses that will use the proposed infrastructure must submit a Letter Indicating Need for New Infrastructure (Attachment 8) that states the type(s) and number(s) of electric school buses that are in need of infrastructure and explain the need for the new infrastructure.

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