Historic $10.4 million to electrify auto terminal will make the Port of Hueneme the first West Coast port to offer all-electric plug-in capable wharfs

The Port of Hueneme received $10.4 million in funding from Ventura County Transportation Commission (VCTC) to help build shoreside power plug-in infrastructure on its North Terminal. The Port also recently received state and federal funding from the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the Volkswagen Environmental Mitigation Trust to implement innovative technologies to increase electrification efforts, track air quality progress, and further reduce particulate matter. These environmental wins benefit the Port and its surrounding community.

At its December 2 board meeting, the VCTC unanimously voted to approve funding for numerous CMAQ (Congestion Mitigation & Air Quality) projects that reduce congestion and vehicle emissions. VCTC awarded the Port of Hueneme a $10.4 million grant for its North Terminal Shore Power Project.

“This historic and unprecedented amount of funding allows the Port to continue its work reducing air emissions while continuing to move essential cargo,” said Mary Anne Rooney, President of the Oxnard Harbor District which owns of the Port of Hueneme. “Over the past 85 years, the Port has invested more than $20 million in mutually beneficial environmental projects that foster unity and collaboration with the most impactful and meaningful results for the community.”

“The funding will greatly benefit the Ventura County region by bringing an additional 94 percent reduction in particulate matter and a 99 percent reduction in nitrogen oxides for all shore-power capable car-carrying vessels over the lifetime of the project,” said Oxnard Harbor Commissioner, Celina Zacarias.

In 2014 the all-electric shoreside power systems went online at the South Terminal where container ships plug in to use the clean grid power. Since 2008, there has been an estimated 96% decrease in sulfur oxides (SOx) and an 77% reduction in harmful diesel particulate matter. This state-of-the-art electrification project allows car-carrying ships to connect to shoreside power to effectively eliminate diesel emissions while at berth. The Project will be built through the Port's Project Labor Agreement. Many of the car-carrying vessels are used for the import and exports of passenger vehicles. In fact, customers report that 23 percent of the cars transiting the Port of Hueneme are electric vehicles, outperforming the national average of 4 percent. The Port of Hueneme ranks as one of the top six ports in the United States for automobile trade. Passenger vehicles account for a quarter of all imports and exports at the Port of Hueneme, and last year totaled $4.99 billion for imports, and $228.07 million for exports. This creates hundreds of good paying jobs with an average salary of $73,000.