View our detailed frequently asked questions below and learn more about the Charge Ready Program.
The Charge Ready Program is an initiative to support the deployment of qualified charging stations throughout our service territory, accelerate the electric vehicle (EV) charging market, and support California’s air quality and greenhouse gas reduction objectives.
The Public Utilities Commission approved $22 million for Charge Ready, including about $2.8 million for a broad EV awareness campaign.
No. Charge Ready requires a new circuit deployed by SCE, separately metered, and dedicated to qualified charging stations. Legacy installations would have to be operated discretely.
When you participate in Charge Ready, we’ll help alleviate some of the costs and complexities associated with the deployment of charging stations. Increasing the number of charging stations is not only a convenience to those who already drive EVs, but doing so also encourages greater EV adoption and improvement of public health through reduced air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.
You are eligible to participate if you:
- Qualify as a non-residential customer* (including bundled service, direct access, community aggregator, and community choice aggregator customers)
- Meet the program's guidelines for existing and future EV adoption
- Own, lease or operate a site that provides long-dwell time parking (including workplaces, fleet, multi-unit dwellings, and other destination centers, such as sports venues or hotels)
- Provide an easement granted to SCE by the property owner
- Deliver proof of purchase of qualified charging equipment
Please note that eligibility does not guarantee participation in the program. Participation is subject to all of the program’s terms and conditions, including availability of funding and timely delivery of all required documents within the required timeline.
*Although multi-unit dwellings (MUDs) are eligible to participate in the program, and residents may use the charging stations and may set up a separately-metered account for their EV charging, the Customer Participant must be the non-residential customer associated with the premises meter (such as a property management company or homeowners association).
Multi-Unit Dwelling (MUD) and Workplace Customer Participants will be asked to send a 2-3 minute survey to their residents or employees, to assess EV adoption at their sites.
The Charge Ready-related permits and parties responsible are outlined in Table A below
There are several things you can do as each milestone approaches. We’ve outlined them in Table B below
Once you have been approved, and have submitted a proof of purchase, we estimate that deployment will take about 6 months. This assumes that permitting, inspection, and installation of the charging stations are done in a timely manner.
You have 30 days to submit the proof of purchase after you receive confirmation that funding for your site has been reserved. If you need an extension, you may request a 15 day extension through the enrollment portal. You may request a second and final extension request, provided that you can confirm that procurement of qualified charging stations is still on-going.
We will deploy infrastructure for at least 10 stations per site and up to 4% of parking spaces on average. Sites located in disadvantaged communities and multi-unit dwelling sites may request a minimum of five charging stations. We will determine the actual number of charging stations based on a number of criteria, including EV adoption and near-term anticipated growth, charging market segment, and estimated deployment costs.
It's important to understand that installation of metering equipment and charging stations will require some civil work (digging, excavation, etc.). We will locate, design, and install the required infrastructure necessary for participation in the Charge Ready Program based on the following guidelines:
Charging stations should
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- Be as close as possible to existing transformer (if enough capacity) or to new transformer (if needed to serve the EV charging load)
- Be grouped in a single location (e.g., the same floor of a parking garage)
- Allow adequate space for the installation and operation, in compliance with all applicable laws, rules, and regulations
Charge Ready includes a broad range of qualified charging station models from multiple suppliers, including Level 1 (120 volts) and Level 2 (208-240 volts) stations. All Level 2 stations will include Demand Response capabilities to participate in future DR programs.
The rebate is based on our evaluation of charging stations (and their installations) that meet the program requirements. The Approved Charging Station Listshows the full rebate amount available for each model in the column titled "Total Base Cost per Charging Station Package". Depending on the primary utilization for the charging stations and your location, you will receive a full or partial rebate as indicated in the table below. Use the Charge Ready Rebate Calculator to determine your potential eligibility and rebate amount.
Charging stations may have one or several charge ports (individual SAE J1772 connectors, typically one to four per charging station). View the Charge Port drawing below for details.
Three types of charge ports are authorized under the Charge Ready Program:

The Base Cost is determined by SCE based on our pricing analysis of charging stations (and their installation) within each Charge Port type (Level 1, Level 2 "A", and Level 2 "B"). It is used to determine the rebate payable under the Charge Ready Program in connection with a deployment at a site. The total rebate amount is calculated using the following formula: Number of Charge Ports X Base Cost X Rebate %.
Customers that place higher demands on the grid are more costly to serve, as utilities must size transmission and distribution systems accordingly to serve the customer’s highest demand. Under the current tariffs approved by the California Public Utilities Commission, these costs are passed to customers through demand charges.
Demand charges reflect a measure of power calculated in kilowatts (kW). They are different from energy consumption charges, measured in kilowatt-hours (kWh).
For example, if you turn on 10, 100-watt light bulbs, they immediately place a demand on the power system for 1,000 watts of electricity (or 1 kW). If you leave these bulbs on for 1 hour, they will consume 1,000 watt-hours (or 1 kWh) of energy on your meter.
Consider the following options to help reduce the impact of monthly demand charges, including:
- Load Management: Limit the amount and/or time of charging:
- Use tools to charge sequentially rather than simultaneously
- Deploy lower-level or level-adjustable charging stations
- Encourage lower-level charging and off-peak charging by end-users
- Rates: If the Charge Ready Customer Participant is the customer of record, and has a general service account located at the same premises, then the Customer Participant may consider selecting an applicable EV rate with a Facilities Related Demand (FRD) charge offset option. For more information, view the Electric Car Rate Options.
About Schedules TOU-EV-3-B and TOU-EV-4 and TOU-EV-6: FRD charges for these rates are determined using the FRD in excess of the primary account located at the same premises (the customer of record must be the same for both accounts). If the FRD from EV charging is less than the FRD of the primary service account (within any given monthly billing period), no separate FRD charge is due for the qualifying EV account. . - Solar and Energy Storage Solutions: Deploy energy storage solutions with a low demand for long periods of time. The storage solution can be used on peak or when demand is greater than usual to recharge electric vehicles. With photovoltaic solutions, self-generated energy can be used for electric vehicles; energy surplus can be stored or sent back to the grid in exchange for a billing credit.
The only limitation is that the total rebate amounts you receive cannot exceed the total cost of the charging station hardware and installation.