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Tri Delta Transit

Tri Delta Transit provides over 3,000,000 trips each year to a population of over 250,000 residents in the 225 square miles of Eastern Contra Costa County in Northern California.

In support of California’s goal to transition transit agencies to 100% zero-emission by 2040, Tri Delta purchased four battery-electric buses (BEBs) from Proterra and BYD in 2018. Soon after deployment of their EV fleet, Tri Delta realized their plan to manually charge at the end of each shift led to significant demand changes and energy costs. Issues with intermittent outages and charger malfunctions also resulted in operational disruptions.

The transit agency began working with bp pulse to manage their charging operations, including optimizing for energy costs and charger uptime.

Customer Highlights

4 Electric Transit Buses

Avg. 7.02 MWh/month

bp pulse quickly replaced four malfunctioning chargers to get Tri Delta back online.

The problem

Fixing charger malfunctions

The success of any EV fleet hinges on consistent and reliable access to charging. Before working with bp pulse, Tri Delta already installed four chargers to support their electric buses. They struggled with maintaining power due to persistent charger defaults that would go unnoticed as the fleet did not have 24/7 monitoring of the equipment.

To solve for this, we evaluated their charging needs and determined the most effective resolution would be to replace their existing equipment, rather than work around non-operational chargers. We worked with a trusted EVSE partner to quickly install four new chargers, allowing us to get functional equipment in the ground with minimal supply chain delays.

Our infrastructure work:

  • Solved existing charger malfunctions
  • Quickly replaced problematic chargers with new EVSE
  • Minimized additional supply chain related project delays
  • Restored access to reliable charging
Our Omega charge management system reduced Tri Delta's operational costs by 40%

Managed charging

Reducing demand charges and energy costs

When Tri Delta first deployed their electric buses, the transit fleet planned to have each driver or depot personnel initiate charging at the end of each shift. This meant the fleet manager could not plan for fluctuating utility time-of-use rates, demand charges, or flex alerts. This resulted in the fleet experiencing much higher-than-projected energy costs.

In order to reduce these costs and manage charging in real-time, the fleet worked with bp pulse to integrate our Omega charge management software. With our holistic cloud-based software, Tri Delta now charges their fleet at optimal times based on cost of energy and duty cycles.

With Omega, we helped Tri Delta:

  • Cut energy costs
  • Automate charging sessions
  • Prioritize lowest cost energy
  • Minimize demand charges 
  • Improve operations with real-time alerts and troubleshooting

Equipment management

Real-time management of charger maintenance

After replacing their existing chargers, we integrated our Elevate charger maintenance service to ensure Tri Delta’s charging uptime. Elevate goes beyond original equipment manufacturer’s warranties – focusing on the long-term health of your equipment. With Elevate, we handle all sub-suppliers in securing repair or replacement, providing a hassle-free experience.

With Elevate, we helped Tri Delta:

  • Go beyond EVSE OEM warranties 
  • Reduce maintenance costs
  • Respond to charger issues in real-time

More ways to save

Increasing savings with LCFS credits

In addition to charge management services, bp pulse also helped Tri Delta navigate the complicated process of generating revenue from California’s Low Carbon Fuel Standard (LCFS) credits. Leveraging our knowledge and experience with the LCFS program, we were able to support Tri Delta by reporting its energy consumption and generating/monetizing carbon credits on their behalf – significantly improving the total cost of ownership for Tri Delta’s growing EV fleet.

bp pulse helped us pinpoint the financial, operational, and equipment improvements we could make to realize 40% savings and ensure uptime for our riders who depend on our bus service to go about their daily lives. As we expand our EV fleet, we look forward to working with bp pulse to realize even greater savings.

Tri Delta Transit

Our products and services

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Design and engineering
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Charge management

Learn more about our work with Tri Delta Transit

Press release

bp pulse saves up to 40% on energy costs for Tri Delta Transit