California Energy Commission considers about $36.9M in LA28 grants for bus and school-bus charging in Los Angeles

The California Energy Commission put seven state-funded "LA28" charging agreements on the consent calendar of its October 19, 2026 business meeting. Together they would pay for at least 297 DC fast-charging (DCFC) ports and about 122 Level 2 ports at transit yards, school-bus yards and on city light posts. The seven agreements, numbered ZVI-26-005 through ZVI-26-011, total about $36.94 million in the commission's revised final agenda, where each appears as a proposed resolution. They are proposed grants for depot and curbside charging, not open chargers.

Most of the money goes to fleet depots run by school districts, the city transportation department and LA Metro. Each agenda item links its project to the 2028 Olympic and Paralympic Games in Los Angeles.

The seven agreements

Item	Recipient	Agreement	Amount	Ports	Location
3n	Highland Electric Fleets, Inc.	ZVI-26-009	up to $10,300,000	at least 119 DCFC	Four school-district sites
3k	Los Angeles Department of Transportation (LADOT)	ZVI-26-006	$10,200,000	at least 100 DCFC	Harbor City Interim Yard
3o	Los Angeles Unified School District (LAUSD)	ZVI-26-010	$5,700,000	35 DCFC	San Julian Bus Yard
3l	LA Metro	ZVI-26-007	$5,608,000	10 DCFC + 22 Level 2	Two Los Angeles sites
3q	Los Angeles Cleantech Incubator (LACI)	ZVI-26-005	$2,932,412	32 DCFC (60 kW), 16 V2G-capable	LAUSD Newman Nutrition Center
3m	City of Los Angeles	ZVI-26-008	$2,000,000	approximately 100 Level 2	Light posts throughout Los Angeles
3p	Centralia Elementary School District	ZVI-26-011	$200,000	1 DCFC	—

Six of the seven are funded from the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund (GGRF). The City of Los Angeles light-post grant comes from the General Fund and builds on an existing award under the Convenient, High-Visibility, Low-Cost, Level 2 Charging solicitation (GFO-22-610).

School-bus yards

Highland Electric Fleets has the largest item. The commission's backup materials for item 3n describe agreement ZVI-26-009, titled "LA28 Funding Highland Electric Fleets, Inc.," as paying for at least 119 DCFC ports across four sites in Compton Unified, Santa Monica-Malibu Unified, La Habra City School District and San Bernardino City Unified. The term would run from October 19, 2026 to March 31, 2029, and the money would support existing Clean Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) awards. Staff described the work as charging stations at existing facilities and transportation yards. The commission revised the item 3n agenda entry on October 12, and it now describes four sites rather than five.

LAUSD's own agreement, ZVI-26-010 ("LAUSD Transportation Electrification"), would fund 35 DCFC ports in a paved lot at the San Julian Bus Yard, a maintenance, operations and transportation yard in the city of Los Angeles. The chargers would serve new electric school buses replacing diesel buses. The agreement supports an existing award under the Zero-Emission School Bus and Infrastructure Program (ZESBI) and runs to March 31, 2029, according to the item 3o backup.

A second LAUSD site is covered by LACI's grant. The item 3q backup describes thirty-two 60 kW DCFC ports, 16 of them capable of vehicle-to-grid (V2G) operation, in an existing parking structure at the Newman Nutrition Center where LAUSD school buses are already parked and stored. The project, titled "LACI's Going for Gold Blueprint Implementation: VGI-Enabled Zero-Emission School Bus Charging Depot in Los Angeles," would bring the site to full electrification capacity and runs to May 2, 2029. The smallest item, $200,000 to Centralia Elementary School District, covers one DCFC port and supports an existing ZESBI award.

Transit depots and curbside ports

LADOT's agreement, ZVI-26-006 ("LA DOT Transportation Electrification"), would install at least 100 DCFC ports at the Harbor City Interim Yard to support the transition to electric buses. It builds on an existing agreement under GFO-20-602, the Zero-Emission Transit Fleet Infrastructure Deployment solicitation, and runs to March 31, 2029, according to the item 3k backup. LA Metro's agreement would add 10 DCFC and 22 Level 2 ports at two Los Angeles sites for electric buses and non-revenue fleet vehicles, supporting an existing award under the Section 5307 Urbanized Area Formula program.

The City of Los Angeles item is the only one of the seven that puts ports on the street, mounting them on light posts throughout the city.

Related items on the same agenda

Two more Los Angeles items on the same consent calendar are not part of the seven. In item 3c, the Office of Exposition Park Management would amend agreement 600-23-010 to reallocate its budget from electric bus chargers, solar photovoltaic equipment and battery storage to approximately 300 Level 2 ports for light-duty EVs across parking structures at Exposition State Park, a 160-acre state property in Los Angeles. In item 3d, an $11,003,014 grant for public medium- and heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle charging and refueling infrastructure in Southern California, ZVI-24-001, would be transferred from Prologis Mobility LLC to LACI through a novation.

What It Means for Drivers

Most of these ports are planned for bus and school-bus depots. Two items are aimed at light-duty EVs. The light-post program would put Level 2 ports on light posts at the curb across Los Angeles. The Exposition Park amendment would add Level 2 ports for light-duty EVs across the park's parking structures. Both remain proposals tied to the October 19 meeting. If you park near Exposition Park or rely on curbside parking in Los Angeles, watch the AFDC station locator for new listings, and treat a port as available only once it appears there as operational.