Ava community energy launches Oakland’s largest non-Tesla fast charging station
ExecSum
Ava Community Energy has opened Northern California’s largest non-Tesla fast charging station in downtown Oakland, featuring 18 chargers with 31 connectors. The Oakland City Center West Garage location is the first in a planned 15-station network deploying by 2030, with 14 additional sites identified across Ava’s service territory in Alameda County and the cities of Tracy, Stockton, and Lathrop. The station targets underserved populations including renters, recognizing that nearly 50% of Alameda County residents lack home charging access. EV Realty led engineering and construction and will handle ongoing operations, with Kempower supplying the charging hardware.
Why This Matters
The station location reflects strategic placement near multi-family housing, workplaces, residential areas, and freeway access to address charging accessibility challenges for renters who cannot install home charging equipment. This isn’t aspirational infrastructure—it solves an immediate access problem. In Alameda County, half of residents rent. That’s not a niche market; it’s the charging infrastructure gap that limits EV adoption more than range anxiety or vehicle cost.
Community Choice Aggregators like Ava operate as not-for-profit public power providers serving over 2 million customers. Unlike investor-owned utilities optimizing for shareholder returns, CCAs can deploy charging infrastructure in locations that may not generate immediate ROI but serve equity and climate goals. The deployment aligns with Oakland’s 2030 Equitable Climate Action Plan, which prioritizes frontline communities in climate mitigation efforts and targets improved air quality through reduced transportation emissions in areas disproportionately affected by pollution. This model—public capital funding infrastructure where private investment won’t go—becomes the blueprint for equitable EV adoption.
Key Insights
Station Design and Capacity: The 18-charger, 31-connector configuration ensures availability even during peak demand. By comparison, most urban fast-charging sites deploy 4-8 chargers. The scale matters because it eliminates wait times, which remain a primary deterrent for prospective EV buyers who can’t charge at home. The station is compatible with all EV models through NACS and CCS support.
Strategic Site Selection: Ava worked directly with member cities to identify locations maximizing access for populations historically underserved by charging infrastructure. The City Center West Garage sits surrounded by multi-family housing and local businesses, near workplaces and freeway on-ramps. This isn’t convenience infrastructure for existing EV owners—it’s adoption infrastructure for renters considering their first EV purchase.
Operations and Maintenance Model: EV Realty owns and operates the site under a long-term services contract with Ava, who provides the clean energy supply. This structure allows Ava to expand charging access without capital constraints of owning and maintaining hardware across 15 locations. The parking fees are waived for the first hour during charging, reducing the effective cost barrier.
Network Expansion Timeline: Ava plans 14 additional stations by December 2030 across its service territory, targeting city-owned public garages, parking lots, and curbside locations near multi-family housing. If executed, this will represent one of the largest CCA-led charging deployments in California.
Our Take
This is infrastructure policy expressed through energy procurement. CCAs like Ava exist to provide cleaner energy at competitive rates while reinvesting locally. Fast charging for renters is a direct extension of that mission—you can’t decarbonize transportation if half your customers can’t charge EVs at home.
The 15-station network positions Ava as a model for how public agencies can deploy equitable charging infrastructure at scale without waiting for private capital to solve the access problem. If other CCAs replicate this approach, California could see hundreds of high-capacity charging sites in underserved areas by 2030. That changes the EV adoption curve for renters, which changes the overall market trajectory.
The question is execution. Ava went from announcement to operational station, but scaling to 15 locations across multiple cities while maintaining site quality and uptime requires consistent capital allocation and operational discipline. If they deliver, this becomes the blueprint for equity-driven charging deployment across the state.