Grants available for Charging Interoperability and Collaboration Yard in California

The California Energy Commission (CEC), through its Clean Transportation Program, has released the GFO-24-609 “Charging Interoperability and Collaboration Yard” (also referred to as “Charge Yard”) solicitation. This competitive grant opportunity will provide up to $4 million in funding to support the creation of an open and neutral facility for electric vehicle (EV) charging interoperability testing, conformance testing, industry collaboration, and knowledge sharing. The Charge Yard will function as a testing and development environment for vehicle and charging equipment manufacturers, utilities, and other stakeholders to improve the performance and compatibility of electric vehicle supply equipment (EVSE) and associated systems. The solicitation was released on March 14, 2025, and applications must be submitted by June 4, 2025, by 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time. A pre-application workshop will be held via Zoom on April 4, 2025, and written questions are due by April 18, 2025. Anticipated notice of proposed awards is scheduled for August 20, 2025, with formal approval at a CEC business meeting expected in September 2025. All applications must be submitted through the Energy Commission Agreement Management System (ECAMS). This grant supports projects that will construct and operate a facility in California capable of accommodating a minimum of twelve EVSE units and four vehicles, offering indoor and outdoor testing spaces, multi-party meeting areas, and sufficient electrical capacity to power at least a 150 kW charger. Key activities include annual procurement of at least twelve “resident” EVSE units, interoperability testing with top-selling EVs, development of standardized testing protocols, bidirectional charging demonstrations, and extensive data collection and reporting. Projects must also support industry collaboration through hosted events and engage with an advisory committee composed of diverse EV ecosystem stakeholders. Applicants must be private or public entities, but investor-owned utilities, publicly owned utilities, and universities or university-operated facilities are not eligible. While facilities must be located in California, applicants are not required to be headquartered in the state. Each applicant may submit only one application. A minimum 33 percent cash match share is required, and projects must be able to sustain operations for five years, with plans to achieve ten years of sustainability. Applications will be evaluated based on criteria such as physical site readiness, testing infrastructure, governance and operations plans, standardization efforts, cost effectiveness, budget justification, match share contributions, and team qualifications. All eligible costs and match contributions must be verifiable and aligned with the grant agreement's terms and conditions. A single award is expected, and the CEC may cancel a proposed award if timelines or requirements (such as CEQA compliance or match documentation) are not met. For submission assistance, applicants may contact ECAMS technical support at ECAMS.SalesforceSupport@energy.ca.gov. For other solicitation-related questions, contact Chester Hong, Commission Agreement Officer, at Chester.Hong@energy.ca.gov. Additional information and documents can be found on the CEC’s funding opportunities website.