AB 2543: Emergency preparedness: direct current fast charging station sites.

Existing law, the California Emergency Services Act, generally prescribes duties with regard to various types of emergencies and disasters, including requiring the Governor to coordinate the State Emergency Plan and those programs necessary for the mitigation of the effects of an emergency in this state. Existing law requires the Office of Emergency Services to include in the State Hazard Mitigation Plan an evaluation of risks from specified causes of a long-term electrical outage and, based on that analysis, requires the plan to identify cost-effective and feasible measures to lessen risks from those hazards, including, hardening the critical infrastructure of electrical utilities.

This bill would require, on or before June July 1, 2027, the Office of Emergency Services to, in Services, in consultation with the State Energy Resources Conservation and Development Commission establish a working group to evaluate the resilience of publicly available electric vehicle fast charging stations during and following a disaster. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, the working group to issue guidelines to city and county emergency managers on how its recommendations may be incorporated into local emergency plans. The bill would define terms for its purposes. Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety, to determine direct current fast charging station sites that are important to maintain during an emergency based on specified factors and to develop recommendations on how long backup power would be necessary during an emergency. The bill would require, on or before January 1, 2028, an operator of a direct current fast charging station site identified by the Office of Emergency Services as described above to submit an emergency management plan to the Office of Emergency Services and the Office of Energy Infrastructure Safety that considers backup power options to be used during and after the event of an emergency, as provided.