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April 2017 Edition
GTSE Recap, Our Growing Team, EV Roadmap, Member Updates, State Commercial Vehicle Tax Credit Expanded, Private Fleets & AFVs, 2017 DERA Funding, VW's EV Investment, Free Propane Autogas!, Shorepower For Heavy Duty Trucks?
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Celebrate Clean Transportation!
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Mark your calendars now! On Thursday, June 8, 2017, you're invited to our annual awards and recognition dinner. Join us as we honor local leaders and celebrate our collective accomplishments toward advancing clean transportation fuels and technologies.
We'll have more details soon, b
ut for now set aside some time in the evening to join us, catch up with friends and colleagues, and memorialize another year of kickin' gas in the Northwest.
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[Above] Clean Cities staff drive the jive and take an all-electric GEM e6 for a spin at GTSE.
[Bottom] King County (Alex Adams) and City of Seattle (Andrea Pratt) accept their Western Regional Sustainable Fleet Awards.
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Earlier this month we attended the G
reen Transportation Summit & Expo. Over 400 people made the trek to Portland to learn the latest in sustainable transportation technology, including many of our stakeholders.
- Andrea Pratt (City of Seattle) and Phillip Saunders (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services) highlighted their experience with renewable diesel.
- Our own Robin Gold moderated a session on biofuels.
- Dan McConnon (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services) touched on fleet electrification.
- Dan Brown (EPA) noted available funding opportunities for fleets looking to use clean fuels.
- Darren Engle (Blue Star Gas) talked about why propane autogas provides the best ROI.
- Alex Adams (King County) spoke on best practices and lessons in deploying electric vehicle supply equipment.
- Mike Britt (UPS) delivered the conference's keynote speech.
- George Carter, III (Washington State Department of Enterprise Services) & Andrea Pratt discussed the benefits and challenges of installing electric vehicle infrastructure.
You can check out all of this year's presentations on GTSE's website.
We'd like to give a well-deserved shout-out to Brian Trice with Columbia-Willamette Clean Cites for his tremendous effort organizing the event.
Congratulations also goes to two Clean Cities members for bringing home Western Regional Sustainable Fleet Awards -- way to represent Western Washington!
- King County -- Government (Large Fleet)
- City of Seattle -- Overcoming Adversity
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Welcome Our Newest Team Member!
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We're excited to add Angela Song to Western Washington Clean Cities!
Angela has over five years of experience with the U.S. Department of Energy's Clean Cities program. She started at Kansas City Clean Cities, where she helped expand the region’s biodiesel and electric markets by organizing over 100 city and statewide events, meetings, workshops, and comprehensive trainings.
Most recently a resident of Portland, Oregon, she worked with Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities to coordinate the annual Green Transportation Summit & Expo -- you may have seen her there recently mastering an all-electric scooter.
As an avid hiker and adventurous foodie (seriously, she loves spicy food), Angela is open to any and all suggestions on places to visit and eat in the Seattle area. Please welcome her and give her your best insider tips!
Angela Song
Clean Cities Associate
[email protected]
206-689-4016
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You won't want to miss the tenth anniversary of EV Roadmap this June in Portland, Oregon.
We're proud to support EV Roadmap because it's the best event to learn from the entire "ecosystem" of stakeholders in the electric vehicle industry -- utilities, vehicle manufacturers, charging equipment providers, governments, policymakers and, of course, drivers.
Register by May 2 (next Tuesday) and you'll save $50. And it gets even better for friends of Western WA Clean Cities! Just use code 'WWCC' for an additional $75 discount when you register.
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Find out which of our members are making moves in the field of alternative fuels and advanced technologies.
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Welcome New Member: Pacific Propane Gas Association
We're excited to welcome Pacific Propane Gas Association (PPGA) as our newest coalition member.
PPGA is a regional trade organization representing 36 member companies in the propane industry in Alaska, Hawaii, Oregon, and Washington. PPGA's membership ranges across many facets of the propane industry, including small and large retailers of propane, producers and wholesalers of propane equipment, and propane transporters. Through safety trainings, marketing programs, and conversations with state legislatures, regulatory agencies, and propane users, PPGA provides a unified, proactive voice for the propane industry.
We look forward to working with PPGA to promote the use of propane autogas.
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King County Metro: Battery Electric Buses Log 100K+ Miles
King County Metro's three battery electric Proterra buses continue to charge ahead. Since their time in service, the buses have traveled over 100,000 miles, saved over 17,000 gallons of diesel fuel, and prevented nearly 400,000 pounds of greenhouse gas tailpipe pollution.
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What factors do employers need to consider when establishing a workplace charging program?
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State Commercial Vehicle Tax Credit Gets A Makeover
Earlier this month, the Washington State legislature amended the state tax credit for clean alternative fuel commercial vehicles. Although the tax credit is largely the same in structure, the legislature improved the maximum credit available per vehicle.
What stayed the same:
- Businesses can use the tax credit to purchase or lease an alternative fuel vehicle for commercial use.
- Tax credit covers up to 50% of a new vehicle's incremental cost compared to a petroleum-powered vehicle.
- Qualified vehicles must still be powered by natural gas, propane, hydrogen, dimethyl ether (DME), or electricity.
What changed:
New maximum credits credit per vehicle, based on the vehicle's gross weight rating (GVWR).
- Up to 14,000 lbs: $25,000 (was $5,000)
- 14,001-26,500 lbs: $50,000 (was $10,000)
- Over 26,500 lbs: $100,000 (was $20,000)
Other changes:
- The tax credit is now available for any business transporting passengers.
- Each business may claim up to $2 million in tax credits per year for each vehicle weight class.
To learn more, read the new bill on the legislature's website.
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RFI: Procuring AFVs For Private Fleets
Fleets for the Future and the National Association of Regional Councils (NARC) seeks to gauge interest from trade associations or other agencies with the capacity to reach a national target audience to create a cooperative procurement program for alternative fuel vehicles (AFVs).
Responses are due by June 2, 2017.
Learn More
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Buy A Bus, Get Free Propane Autogas
Bryson Bus Sales is offering a year of free propane autogas to any public school district that purchases a new propane-powered school bus before May 30, 2017.
Private schools and other customers may also be considered for this offer, depending on demand.
For more details, contact Marty Middleton.
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Clean Diesel Funding Available
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) requests proposals for its latest round of Diesel Emissions Reduction Act (DERA) funding. The EPA expects to offer $11 million in grant funding for projects that significantly reduce diesel emissions, especially from fleets operating in areas with poor air quality.
Proposals are due by June 20, 2017.
Learn More
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VW Rolls Out Electric Vehicle Investment Plan
This month Volkswagen released its National ZEV Investment Plan, outlining how it intends to invest $1.2 billion to advance the adoption of electric vehicles. The investment is required as part of Volkswagen's settlement for deceiving emissions testing.
For the first phase of this investment, Electrify America (VW's subsidiary) has prioritized 11 metropolitan areas -- including Seattle -- to receive 300+ charging stations over a 30-month period.
Learn More
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Shorepower For Heavy-Duty Trucks
Truck drivers often work long hours, so a bit of a break from the road is a necessity. The only problem is that some drivers idle their trucks to keep the cab powered as they rest, burning huge amounts of fuel over time.
Fortunately, more and more places for trucks to plug-in to external power are popping up, including here in Washington.
- Ellensburg, WA -- I-90, Exit 298
- George, WA -- I-90, Exit 149
- Toledo, WA -- I-5, Exit 57
- Union Gap, WA -- I-82, Exit 36
Learn More
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