Some local winery owners in unincorporated areas might think twice about expanding their operations, if a proposed ordinance drafted by the Santa Clara County Planning Department comes into effect.
The proposed ordinance would require either pre-wiring or charging systems for plug-in electric vehicles in new buildings in unincorporated areas throughout the County, according to the Nov. 27 Farm Bureau News weekly newsletter by the Santa Clara County Farm Bureau.
Sheldon Haynie, co-owner of Lightheart Cellars in San Martin and outgoing president of the Wineries of Santa Clara Valley Marketing Association, understands the County’s push for advocating such a proposal. However, he said the cost – about $5,000 to install a PEV station – may be too big a financial hit to some of the existing smaller wineries. Additionally, he said such a requirement could possibly dissuade future winery owners from opening up a new business.
“That’s a $5,000 cost. That’s a truckload of money for us. To pay for that, I have to sell a lot of wine,” Haynie said. “It’s a choice and the County has to understand when you force these choices on people there’s consequences. One consequence could be that, ‘OK, I’m not going to open.’”
Haynie’s suggested amendment to the County’s proposal would be to offer a tax credit for any business that chooses to install a PEV station rather than require them to do so.
“I’d rather see something implemented as an incentive, not a mandate,” said Haynie.
He also wonders (1) who would foot the power cost for charging the vehicles; (2) if the business can charge a fee to use their station, or (3) if it must be free of charge.
The purpose of the ordinance is to increase the availability of PEV charging system infrastructure throughout the County, encouraging the increased ownership of plug-in electric vehicles.
The draft proposal notes “the availability of PEV’s is growing and will continue to expand over the next several years. The International Energy Agency projects that PEV’s will account for up to 15 percent of the vehicle fleet globally by 2020.”
The proposed policy would require the following:
-New single family homes, multi-family residential of less than 10 units, small non-residential (with less than 100 parking spaces) must be pre-wired with conduit between the electrical panel and parking area and provide sufficient capacity in the on-site electrical service to accommodate a future Level 2 charger.
-Large non-residential (with more than 100 parking spaces) and multi-family residential buildings of 10 or more units) must install Level 2 chargers at the time of construction to dedicated PEV charging/parking spaces, comprising 5 percent of total parking spaces. Non-residential includes commercial, office, industrial, and institutional buildings.
-Rebuilds of single family homes that include construction between the electrical panel and parking space, or that includes an upgrade to an electrical panel, be required to install conduit or electrical capacity for a PEV system, respectively.
