California's largest EV charging incentive is moving again. In late May 2026, the California Energy Commission (CEC) scheduled the next two funding windows of the Fast Charge California Project, the DC fast charging component of the California Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Project (CALeVIP), and made more than $55.2 million available for public fast charging statewide. The first new window opens October 7, 2026. For commercial property owners who watched the prior window close in January 2026 with its waitlist cleared by March, this is the reopening to plan around, and the rules have changed enough that last year's plan is not a safe guide.
⚠️ Timing note: Both of these CALeVIP windows open after June 30, 2026, the date the federal Section 30C Alternative Fuel Vehicle Refueling Property Credit ended under the One Big Beautiful Bill Act (Public Law 119-21). A project applying in either window will be placed in service well after that date, so it cannot claim the federal 30C credit, which is no longer available. Build the funding math around the California incentive and any utility make-ready program, not the federal credit.
The two windows at a glance
The CEC scheduled two separate application windows. CALeVIP labels them Window 2 and Window 3, following the first Fast Charge California window that closed in January 2026. They are not identical, and the difference in the per-port cap is the headline.
Window 2: October 7, 2026 to January 14, 2027. Covers up to 100% of eligible installation costs for DC fast chargers, up to $100,000 per charging port.
Window 3: February 24, 2027 to May 27, 2027. Covers up to 100% of eligible installation costs, up to $55,000 per port, for any qualifying charger with a minimum output of 150 kW.
The reason the second window's cap is lower is a deliberate structural change. The earlier window paid more for higher-power equipment; the program has removed the separate rebate tier for 275 kW and above, so in Window 3 all eligible equipment defaults to the same $55,000 per port regardless of how powerful it is. If your project leans on very high-power hardware, the October window is where the larger per-port number lives.
What changed for these windows
Both new windows come with updated terms, conditions, and reporting requirements, and several eligibility rules tightened relative to the first window. Treat the lists below as a map of what moved, and confirm the specifics against the official program manual before you build a plan around any single point, because CALeVIP publishes detailed implementation guides that govern the actual application.
Four changes apply to both Window 2 and Window 3:
- Fewer eligible site types. Charging hubs, hotels, and business districts are no longer eligible site types. The program is steering toward businesses, public facilities, high-traffic destinations, and sites along major travel corridors.
- You must own the equipment. Applicants must be both the incentive recipient and the owner of the charging equipment. A pure host-and-lease arrangement where a third party owns the hardware no longer fits the applicant definition.
- ENERGY STAR equipment only. All funded chargers must be ENERGY STAR certified.
- No CEQA exemption for unpaved sites. California Environmental Quality Act exemptions are no longer allowable for unpaved sites, which raises the bar for greenfield or undeveloped locations.
Two further changes apply to Window 3 only. First, it requires just a single CCS connector per site, which gives operators more room to weight the rest of a Window 3 site toward NACS, subject to any other connector rules in the final terms. Second, as noted above, it removes the separate rebate tier for equipment of 275 kW and above, which is what flattens every eligible charger to the $55,000 per-port cap.
What the program funds, and who can apply
The Fast Charge California Project funds publicly accessible DC fast charging, and the incentive goes to the business or property owner who installs and hosts the charger, not to drivers. The defining requirement is readiness: applicants must have ready-to-build projects before they apply, including a final utility service design and all required permits. This is not a program you enter at the idea stage. The CEC has consistently given top priority to applicants who have already done the pre-planning so chargers reach the ground quickly.
A few more requirements shape who realistically qualifies:
- Equity is built into the allocation. At least 50% of CALeVIP incentives must go to chargers serving low-income, disadvantaged, and tribal communities, and the CEC has said priority for this funding goes to projects in tribal areas, disadvantaged communities, and low-income areas, alongside high-traffic destinations and corridors.
- Public access is mandatory. These are public charging incentives. A charger reserved for tenants, employees, or a fleet does not qualify under this project.
- There is an active-project ceiling. Applicants with more than 50 active projects across CALeVIP 1.0, CALeVIP 2.0, and the related Communities in Charge program are ineligible for new awards until their active count drops below 50, which keeps large operators from monopolizing a window.
- The Window 3 power floor is a per-port guarantee. Window 3 equipment must deliver at least 150 kW at each port with all ports in use, unless the site is enrolled in a utility power-management program. A charger that only reaches 150 kW when a single port is active may not clear the bar, which matters when you size hardware and electrical service.
CALeVIP is funded through the CEC's Clean Transportation Program. The Fast Charge California Project under CALeVIP 2.0 is administered by the Center for Sustainable Energy on the CEC's behalf; a parallel CEC block grant, Communities in Charge, is run by CALSTART. If you have worked with one, do not assume the other's portal or rules carry over.
The track record is the strongest argument that this funding actually converts to steel in the ground. The first Fast Charge California window awarded roughly $54 million for more than 1,200 ready-to-build fast charging ports across 35 counties, with more than 60% of those chargers in disadvantaged and low-income communities. Across all of its phases, CALeVIP has supported more than 10,500 charger installations statewide. The CEC has tied the new funding to keeping pace with California's growing EV fleet and the state's clean transportation goals.
The federal-deadline catch
This is the part that changes the math for anyone who has run California charging projects before. For years, the standard California playbook stacked a CALeVIP grant with the federal 30C charger credit and a utility make-ready program. That stack is no longer available on these windows.
The 30C credit ended June 30, 2026. Window 2 does not open until October 7, 2026, and equipment funded through it will be placed in service long after the federal deadline passed. So the federal layer of the old stack is simply gone for these projects. What remains, and still stacks, is the California side:
- CALeVIP itself, up to 100% of eligible installation costs within the per-port cap.
- Utility make-ready programs from PG&E, SCE, and SDG&E, which fund the electrical infrastructure that CALeVIP's equipment-and-installation incentive may not fully cover. See Utility Make-Ready Programs.
One general principle is still worth knowing: a tax-exempt grant reduces the cost basis you can claim under any federal credit, so a grant and a credit never simply add up to their combined face value. That interaction does not bite on these specific windows, because there is no federal charger credit left to stack, but it governs any future project that does beat a federal deadline. The arithmetic is worked through in Stacking Incentives.
For California commercial property owners
If you own or manage a California site that fits the new profile, a public-facing location on a corridor or near a high-traffic destination, in or serving a disadvantaged or low-income community, and you can realistically get to a final utility design and permits before the window, this is worth pursuing. The single most important move is to start the utility service process now. Interconnection and final service design are the long pole in any California DC fast charging project, and the program will not accept an application that is not ready to build.
Two practical steps:
- Model the project before you commit. A four-port DC fast charging station is a major capital decision even at 100% of eligible installation costs, because the cap is per port and not every cost is eligible. Run your own numbers with the Commercial ROI Snapshot before you assume the grant covers the whole project.
- Check the full incentive picture for your address. California layers state, utility, and local programs unevenly by territory. Start with the California state guide and the Incentive Stack Estimator to see what else applies where you are.
A short checklist before you count on a CALeVIP window
Program details shift between the announcement and the day a window opens. Use the dates and figures here to plan, then verify everything against the CALeVIP program pages before you build a budget or submit an application.
Last factually verified: 2026-06-26 against the California Energy Commission announcement (late May 2026), the CALeVIP Fast Charge California Project program pages, and contemporaneous coverage from the Center for Sustainable Energy, Charged EVs, EV Infrastructure News, and T&D World.