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EV charger rebates in Oakland and Alameda County

Oakland has long had one of the strongest commercial EV charger funding stacks in California. The stack is thinner in 2026: PG&E EV Charge 2 and the Alameda County Incentive Project have closed, and BAAQMD Charge! is between rounds. We track the active programs across the federal, state, regional, utility, county, and city tiers that apply to multifamily, fleet, workplace, retail, and mixed-use projects in the East Bay.

Reviewed monthly by the EVgpo team · Last review: 2026-09-29

See the programs for your exact site

The funding stack at a glance

An Oakland project assembles funding from six distinct tiers. Historically the East Bay stack had two energy-side programs available at once: PG&E as the wires utility and a Community Choice Aggregator (Ava in most of Alameda County, MCE for the smaller territory it serves). As of the September 2026 refresh, PG&E EV Charge 2 is fully subscribed and closed, and the Ava-linked Alameda County Incentive Project is closed. MCE's EV Charging Program is the open energy-side program we track for the MCE slice.

BAAQMD Charge! - the regional anchor

The Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) is the regional air-quality agency covering nine counties: Alameda, Contra Costa, Marin, Napa, San Francisco, San Mateo, Santa Clara, southern Solano, and southern Sonoma. It runs the largest single regional EV charger rebate program in Northern California - funded primarily from vehicle registration fees under AB 2766 and Carl Moyer money, not utility ratepayer money, which is why it stacks cleanly with PG&E and CCA programs.

Charge! covers L2 charging at multifamily, workplace, and public-access sites across the BAAQMD territory. The program has run multiple cycles since 2018 with periodic refunding when the bond pool depletes. BAAQMD's page says the FYE 2025 Charge! Program is closed and will be updated with future solicitations. No new round is posted as of the September 2026 refresh, so the program is between rounds.

PG&E EV Charge 2 (closed to new applications)

The PG&E EV Charge 2 program was a turnkey installation program, not a rebate. PG&E (via Ecology Action) handled the design, permitting, equipment procurement, and installation at multifamily, workplace, and small-business sites within PG&E electric service territory. PG&E's program page now says it has reached full subscription and is no longer accepting applications. No successor round is mentioned.

For Oakland multifamily developers, this was often the single largest line item in the stack. Its closure removes that line item for new projects.

Ava Community Energy and MCE

Most of Alameda County (including Oakland, Berkeley, Hayward, and surrounding cities) is served by Ava Community Energy (formerly East Bay Community Energy) as the energy supplier. Ava participated in the Alameda County Incentive Project for public EV charging. CALeVIP now lists that project as completed and no longer accepting applications, and Ava's business pages list no replacement charger rebate.

A smaller slice of Alameda County is in MCE territory. MCE runs the MCE EV Charging Program for workplace and multifamily charging in its service area (covering parts of the East Bay along with Marin, Napa, and Contra Costa). MCE is accepting interest forms and lists $4,000 per port (Light Green) and $4,500 per port (Deep Green), with 2 to 20 port limits.

You're enrolled in one or the other based on your address, not both. PG&E remains the wires utility for both. PG&E EV Charge 2 used to stack with either CCA, but it is now closed to new applications.

Federal §30C has ended

The federal §30C Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit covered 30% of charger cost (up to $100,000 per port) in eligible census tracts, and most of Oakland qualified. Under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act it ended for property placed in service after June 30, 2026.

For projects placed in service after that date, the federal stack is thinner: CFI Community grants (competitive, between rounds) and USDA REAP (rural-only, not Oakland proper, and grant applications are paused). That makes the state, utility, and BAAQMD layers the core of an Oakland funding plan.

What's NOT available for Oakland projects

A few absences worth knowing about:

Considerations for Oakland multifamily projects

The Oakland multifamily stack for L2 charging is thinner than it was in 2024 and 2025. As of the September 2026 refresh:

With PG&E EV Charge 2 closed and BAAQMD Charge! between rounds, expect lower total recovery on new Oakland multifamily projects than in 2024 and 2025. Check the database for what is open at your address.

Where DCFC fits

For DC fast charging in Oakland, the federal CFI Community grant is the primary federal lever, but it is between rounds. At the state level, the CALeVIP 2.0 Golden State Priority Project is closed, and CALeVIP directs DCFC applicants to the Fast Charge California Project (FCCP) Window 2 (2026) and Window 3 (2027). BAAQMD Charge! historically has had DCFC tiers within its program structure depending on the cycle.

For the full filterable list of all programs that apply to an Oakland address, use the main rebate database and enter ZIP 94601 or another Oakland ZIP - federal, state, BAAQMD, PG&E, Ava/MCE, and city/county programs surface automatically.

Sources and verification

This page is verified monthly against agency-administered programs. Confirm program status and dollar amounts directly with each agency before applying. The list below points to administering-agency pages for the major programs covered above.

For the full source list and verification methodology, see our methodology.

Getting it built: installers, rebate filing and turnkey options

In Oakland the question used to be easy: PG&E's EV Charge 2 was a turnkey program, so PG&E's implementer did the work. That program is closed, so East Bay owners now choose an installer or charging provider themselves and file the MCE, BAAQMD (when it reopens) or Communities in Charge paperwork, or have the provider file it.

Who files the rebate applications?

Usually the site owner, because the owner signs the program agreement and takes on the operating commitments (often 5 to 10 years of keeping the chargers in service and sharing data). In practice the installer or charging provider often prepares and submits the paperwork for the owner. Before you sign, get in writing who files, who the check is made out to, and what happens if the rebate comes in lower than planned.

Three common ways projects get built

  • Owner-managed. You buy the chargers, hire a licensed electrical contractor and file the rebates. Most control over hardware, pricing to drivers and LCFS credits; you carry the upfront cost and the paperwork.
  • Turnkey. One company handles design, permits, installation, network setup and rebate paperwork for a fixed price. Less work for you; ask for an itemized quote so you can see the hardware price separately.
  • Revenue share or charging-as-a-service. A provider pays for some or all of the equipment and installation, owns or operates the chargers, and shares charging revenue or charges a monthly fee. Lowest upfront cost; read the contract length, who keeps rebates and LCFS credits, pricing control and removal terms.

Where EVgpo fits

EVgpo sources chargers at group pricing and sells nationwide. If you already have an installer or a turnkey quote, you can ask us to price the same hardware and compare.

Utility guides for this region:

All utilitiesPG&E

Sourcing chargers for a project in this region?

EVgpo quotes ChargePoint, Blink, Siemens, ABB, Wallbox and most other commercial brands for projects in this region, with the local rebates in mind.

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