LB/LA Ports invest $25 Million in electric truck charging infrastructure

The ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles are contributing $25 million in collaboration with regional air quality agencies to support the development of charging infrastructure for electric heavy-duty trucks in Southern California.

These projects, with a combined budget of $135 million, are being spearheaded by the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee. The initiative will involve the installation of up to 207 charging stations across eight locations, including Wilmington, Rancho Dominguez, Rialto, Fontana, Commerce, and the Port of Long Beach. The South Coast Air Quality Management District is overseeing the contracting for these installations.

“With more than 23,000 trucks working the harbor, the investment potential provided by the Clean Truck Fund rate is a key to our air quality efforts,” Port of Long Beach CEO Mario Cordero said in a public statement. “These projects with our partners shows the program is working as designed, and demonstrates zero-emissions goods movement is not a buzz phrase here in San Pedro Bay but a goal we make progress toward every day.”

This week, the Long Beach Harbor Commission and the Los Angeles Harbor Commission each approved a $12.5 million allocation from their Clean Truck Funds for this initiative. The Clean Truck Fund Rate, a crucial element of the ports’ strategy to transition to a zero-emissions truck fleet by 2035 as outlined in the Clean Air Action Plan, started collecting fees in April 2022. Exemptions are provided for containers hauled by zero-emissions trucks and, under specific conditions, by low-nitrogen oxide trucks.

As of March 2024, the Port of Long Beach has accumulated nearly $75 million, and the Port of Los Angeles has gathered about $78 million from the Clean Truck Fund Rate.

“We’re proud to sign on to this project that will exponentially grow heavy-duty truck charging infrastructure for the nation’s busiest ports complex,” Long Beach Harbor Commission President Bobby Olvera Jr said. “Cleaner air benefits the health of residents of the community as well as the hardworking individuals who move the goods we use every day.”