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Siskiyou County planners weigh rural EV charging goals as residents warn of unreliable grid
Summary
At a Siskiyou County Planning Commission meeting, commissioners debated including EV charging infrastructure in the general plan while residents and members raised concerns about frequent brownouts and whether the county’s grid can support chargers, and staff said they will add power reliability language to plan elements.
At a meeting of the Siskiyou County Planning Commission, commissioners and staff discussed language in the county’s general plan meant to position the county to seek state and federal grants for transportation projects — including electric vehicle (EV) chargers — while residents and members raised repeated concerns about the reliability of the county’s electrical grid.
Speaker 3 told the commission that much of the plan text is anticipatory, written so the county can apply for grants and incorporate technical requirements from outside agencies. "A lot of the stuff that we put in here is anticipation of grant opportunities and working with other agencies," Speaker 3 said. The conversation named California Department of Fish and Wildlife and Caltrans as examples of agencies whose requirements the county would incorporate.
Speaker 1 pressed whether the general plan addresses grid reliability before committing to EV charging: "Do we have in the general plan any discussion of the status, the reliability of our power grid in Siskiyou County, and discuss whether or not charging stations can even be expected when we don't even have reliable power in a given year?" Speaker 1 recounted multiple brownouts and outages in Scott Valley and other rural areas this year.
Staff acknowledged the concern and suggested power reliability could be added to an appropriate plan element. "We'll definitely take that consideration and make sure it's in the safety element prominently," Speaker 3 said, while others suggested aspects of power and telecommunications could also be referenced in the circulation element.
Commissioners and staff also discussed a recent proposal for a local battery-storage facility; Speaker 3 said such projects could change power availability and argued charging stations can help local businesses by attracting tourists who use EVs. "EV charging in is we wanna look forward to the future," Speaker 3 said. Speaker 1 cautioned that many EVs cannot reliably travel off the I‑5 corridor in the county and described instances of stranded EV drivers.
The commission did not adopt new policy at the meeting. Staff said they will research where to add explicit language on power reliability and related infrastructure in the general plan so the county can accurately reflect current grid conditions when applying for grant funding.
