California’s Helix Water District Deploys State-of-the-Art Managed Charging System

California’s Helix water district has deployed a state-of-the-art managed charging system at its operations center in El Cajon, California. The system supports the district’s full transition to zero-emission vehicles while maintaining the reliability required of a mission-critical public utility. Better Fleet's advanced managed charging software solution is designed from day one as a 100% electric depot for medium-duty and heavy-duty vehicles.

['The site will deliver nearly 6 MW of total EV charging capacity, enabling large-scale fleet electrification without compromising operational readiness. This will also support charging efforts for other emergency and critical service vehicles across the county, extending its role as a shared resilience asset for essential public services. The Helix water district charging depot will also be supporting charging efforts for other emergency and critical service vehicles beyond its own fleet.', ["Better Fleet's platform is described as the primary operating layer for the depot, providing real-time visibility into vehicle readiness and charging sessions. This allows fleet managers to see the state of charge and readiness of every vehicle, understand which vehicles are ready to be dispatched at any given moment, and monitor the status of chargers and charging sessions as conditions change.", ['The platform actively manages the depot’s overall energy consumption to stay within safe limits and minimize power spikes while prioritizing operational readiness. It also provides a live depot view, showing available parking and charging locations and helping operators manage vehicle movement and space as the depot fills and turns over throughout the day.', ['Load management and smart charging deliver value in two very practical ways: cost control and operational readiness. Unmanaged charging can create large demand spikes that drive up demand charges, while smart charging keeps site load within safe limits, smooths peaks, and reduces those costs. This ensures vehicles are actually ready when needed.', ['Security and offline operation are critical for public utility fleets, as they support essential services and cannot afford downtime or loss of control. Strong security protects sensitive infrastructure and operational data, while offline operation ensures charging can continue safely if communications are disrupted.', ['The site is designed to support emergency and critical service vehicles beyond Helix’s own fleet, making it a shared resilience asset for neighboring emergency and critical service fleets. This increases regional resilience, reduces single points of failure, and ensures critical vehicles can stay operational when conditions are unpredictable and demand is highest.', ['US utilities and fleets are approaching electrification differently, with some focusing on de-risking electrification early through overbuilding charging or oversizing grid upgrades. However, this approach often leads to conservative decisions that drive up costs and project lead times unnecessarily. The key to success lies in managing power and operations intelligently.', ['If utilities replicate the Helix water district project without consulting Better Fleet, they are likely to make a common mistake: overbuilding and overspending on charging infrastructure due to treating charging as a hardware problem instead of an operational one.']]]]]]]]