News
February 24, 2009
Raleigh Announces Electric Plug-In Partnership
Raleigh Mayor Charles Meeker and representatives of Progress Energy and Advanced Energy today announced a pioneering initiative to prepare the Capital City for the availability of electric plug-in and hybrid-electric vehicles that are to be produced in significant quantities in 2010.
Raleigh is one of three U.S. cities that are participating in Project Get Ready. Project Get Ready was initiated by the Rocky Mountain Institute (RMI). The institute announced the project to the national meeting today via a media conference call that the mayor participated in from his office in City Hall. The other two pioneering cities are Portland, Ore., and Indianapolis.
Project Get Ready’s objective is to coordinate the effort to overcome perceived barriers related to technology, consumer demand, infrastructure and incentives. President Barack Obama has stated a goal of adding 1 million plug-in vehicles to America’s fleet by 2015.
Mayor Meeker offered the following statement at today’s media conference: “The Triangle area is proud to be the leader on the East Coast in preparing for the plug-in electric and hybrid-electric revolution. We are delighted to be partnering with Progress Energy, Advanced Energy and the Rocky Mountain Institute to make Project Get Ready happen here.
“Project Get Ready is in harmony with the City of Raleigh’s mission statement. It focuses on 21st century environmental, cultural and economic sustainability. Its objective of providing the infrastructure to support electric vehicles when they begin hitting the showrooms in 2010, conserves our environmental resources by reducing emissions for cleaner air, and reduces our dependence on oil.
“Project Get Ready also embraces our mission statement’s keystone of working with Raleigh universities, colleges, regional partners and citizens to cultivate new opportunities and solutions to strengthen our community.
“At the Project Get Ready – Raleigh kickoff meeting on Feb. 19, we had representatives from throughout the region and every corner of the economy. Dee Freeman, secretary of the State’s Department of Environment and Natural Resources was invaluable. Other notable entities represented at the meeting were Wake County, Highwoods, Wake County Public Schools, Wake Tech, McLaurin Parking Co., Triangle Transit, North Carolina State University, Enterprise Rental Car, Downtown Raleigh Alliance, Triangle Clean Cities, Progress Energy, St. Augustine’s College, Triangle Town Center, Meredith College, the North Carolina Department of Energy, Research Triangle Energy, Kane Realty, Advanced Energy and the Greater Raleigh Chamber of Commerce.
“With that lineup of players, Project Get Ready really is ready to succeed in the Triangle. By engaging Durham, Cary and Chapel Hill in Project Get Ready we will not only be partnering with multiple municipalities, we will be involving two power utilities – Progress Energy and Duke Energy.
“We are delighted to embark on this mission with Progress Energy, Advanced Energy Rocky Mountain Institute and the entire Triangle community.”
As part of the initiative, a small demonstration fleet of charging stations will be evaluated through a joint collaboration effort between Progress Energy and Advanced Energy. The City of Raleigh expects to host several of these stations along downtown streets and garages along with a few placements near the campus of N.C. State University.
The study will evaluate several different vendors and provide valuable information that will guide the decision to deploy a larger numbers of stations in 2010 in anticipation of new plug-in vehicle launches.
In the meantime, there are at least a dozen converted plug-in vehicles traveling around the city that can take advantage of the stations, including the converted Prius operated by the City of Raleigh.
The City is also hopeful that federal stimulus funding will help provide some of the funding necessarily to provide for a wider charging station network and make Raleigh a leader in the adoption of electric vehicles in the Southeast.
Committed Partnership
The City of Raleigh is a founding member of the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition. The coalition is comprised of more than 40 stakeholders in the six counties of Wake, Durham, Orange, Johnston, Chatham and Franklin. The group’s mission is to encourage and accelerate the use of alternative-fuel vehicles in the Triangle by creating partnerships to develop a market and supporting infrastructure for alternative-fuel vehicles.
The City of Raleigh has used alternative-fuel vehicles in its motor fleet for the past nine years. Last year the City acquired 29 alternative-fuel vehicles to raise the total to 320.
Advanced Energy is Raleigh-based nonprofit that serves as a statewide and national resource that focuses on industrial process technologies, motors and drives testing, transportation and applied building science.
RMI is a Snowmass, Colorado-based independent, nonpartisan, entrepreneurial, nonprofit organization that fosters the efficient and restorative use of resources.
Prepared by:
Jayne Kirkpatrick
Director
Public Affairs Department
For More Information Contact:
Julian Prosser
Assistant City Manager
Administrative Services Department
222 West Hargett Street
Raleigh, NC 27602
919-996-4282
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