Riverside’s Utility Board Recommended Closing Its Separate-Meter EV Rate. Only 30 of 219 Applicants Finished Installation.

Raincross Gazette reports that Riverside’s Board of Public Utilities recommended closing the city’s separately metered Schedule EV charging rate to new customers at its Aug. 24 meeting.¹ The official agenda confirms that the item before the Board called for closing new enrollment and recommending that City Council approve the change; Riverside’s City Clerk describes the utility board as a body that makes recommendations to the mayor and council on utility matters.²³⁴ The proposal is not yet a final closure.

The more revealing number is how few applicants made it through the installation process. Raincross, reporting from the meeting and utility presentation, says the Board voted unanimously for the recommendation and that Riverside Public Utilities had received 219 Schedule EV applications but only 30 customers completed installation and inspection. The outlet also reports that the 30-customer total had not increased in four years.¹

That does not mean 189 applicants all failed for the same reason. But RPU’s own current instructions show that joining Schedule EV requires considerably more than switching a billing plan online.⁵

The rate requires a second meter — and the panel has to qualify

Schedule EV bills EV charging through a separate utility meter. Before installation, RPU requires a visual pre-inspection of the home’s electrical service panel. The panel must be no larger than 200 amps, and the meter location must have enough room for an approximately 8-inch-deep meter-and-adapter combination without creating an obstruction or hazard.⁵

Customers who pass that step may need a licensed electrical contractor, must obtain a city permit, complete the required electrical work and pass a final building inspection before an RPU technician installs the EV meter adapter.⁵

RPU’s current page lists a $954 adapter permit along with other installation-related line items, while noting that some prices may vary. It also advertises a Time-of-Use EV Rate Meter Rebate of up to $1,000 for eligible customers to help cover the adapter installation and associated permit fees; the utility says the rebate is subject to program rules, funding availability and possible discontinuation.⁵

Raincross reports that RPU Assistant General Manager of Finance and Administration Brian Seinturier told the Board that the required meter adapter did not work with many customer panels and that staff was not aware of another adapter option that would revive the program.¹ That is RPU staff’s reported explanation for part of the low completion rate, not evidence that every incomplete application was caused by panel incompatibility or that the adapter itself is defective.

Schedule EV is still publicly offered

As of Aug. 29, RPU’s customer-facing Schedule EV page still presents the application process, installation steps and meter rebate as available.⁵ That is consistent with the official procedural status: the Board item calls for City Council approval rather than establishing that the closure has already taken effect.²³

Raincross reports that under the recommendation, existing Schedule EV customers would remain unaffected while new enrollment — and the dedicated meter-installation rebate for new participants — would close if the change is finalized.¹ Those are still proposed consequences, not current program rules established by a final council action.

RPU separately continues to list a Domestic Time-of-Use Tiered Rate Plan for eligible single-family residential customers.⁶ The available evidence does not establish that the whole-home time-of-use option is cheaper or better for a typical EV owner than Schedule EV; that comparison would depend on household electricity use, charging timing and the applicable tariffs.

The next consequential step is City Council action. Until that happens, Riverside has a Board recommendation to close new Schedule EV enrollment and a reported 30-of-219 completion record — not a finalized closure.²³¹

Sources

Footnotes

1. Board Recommends Ending Underused EV Rate, Lifting Solar Cap — Micaela Ricaforte, The Raincross Gazette, Aug. 28, 2026. https://www.raincrossgazette.com/board-recommends-ending-underused-ev-rate-lifting-solar-cap/ Original local reporting from the Aug. 24 meeting. Reports the unanimous vote, 219 applications, 30 completed installations/inspections, the four-year flat customer count, RPU staff’s meter-adapter explanation, proposed existing-customer treatment and proposed rebate closure. The newsroom independently verified the meeting/item and current program mechanics but did not reproduce those meeting-only figures from the underlying staff attachment. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

2. Meeting of Board of Public Utilities on 8/24/2026 at 6:30 PM — City of Riverside / Legistar, meeting Aug. 24, 2026. https://riversideca.legistar.com/MeetingDetail.aspx?GUID=4A343CAB-0BD2-41C4-9524-E397A718AA41&ID=1431106&Options=info%7C&Search= Establishes the official meeting item and proposed Schedule EV closure/recommendation; the accessible meeting page does not independently establish the unanimous vote or 219/30 figures. ↩ ↩² ↩³

3. Accessible Agenda — Board of Public Utilities — August 24, 2026 — City of Riverside / Legistar, published Aug. 12, 2026. https://riversideca.legistar.com/View.ashx?GUID=4A343CAB-0BD2-41C4-9524-E397A718AA41&ID=1431106&M=AADA Establishes the proposed resolution language closing Schedule EV to new customers and recommending City Council approval; it does not by itself establish the post-meeting vote result. ↩ ↩² ↩³

4. Board of Public Utilities — City of Riverside City Clerk, current page observed Aug. 29, 2026. https://riversideca.gov/cityclerk/boards-commissions/board-public-utilities Establishes that the nine-member Board makes reports and recommendations to the mayor and City Council on Riverside utility matters; it does not establish the result of the Aug. 24 vote. ↩

5. Electric Vehicle Rate — Riverside Public Utilities, current page observed Aug. 29, 2026. https://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/residents/rates/electric-vehicle-rate Establishes the current Schedule EV application and installation workflow, panel/clearance requirements, listed permit and installation amounts, and the currently advertised up-to-$1,000 meter rebate. The page does not establish why individual prior applicants failed to complete installation. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵

6. Financing & Rates — About — Riverside Public Utilities, current page observed Aug. 29, 2026. https://www.riversideca.gov/utilities/residents/rates/financing-rates/about Establishes current availability of RPU’s Domestic Time-of-Use Tiered Rate Plan for eligible single-family residential customers; it does not establish comparative EV-charging savings. ↩