Wisconsin Clean Cities

Driving Wisconsin Forward Since 1994

May 2023

2023 Transportation & Innovation Expo

Registration is now open for the Transportation & Innovation Expo in Madison!

Wisconsin Clean Cities is proud to partner with Madison Gas and Electric, Alliant Energy, and the City of Madison Fleet Service, to co-host the state’s largest sustainable transportation conference and expo on October 11, 2023 at the Alliant Energy Center.

The 100,000-square-foot exhibit hall will feature a variety of exhibitors and indoor vehicle and equipment displays. Attendees will also have the opportunity to get behind the wheel of a variety of alternative fuel and electric vehicles during the ride and drive outside the exhibit hall.

Available to you:

All-day access to the expo hall with indoor vehicle displays and exhibit booths.
Breakout sessions with top industry leader panelists.
Ride & Drive opportunities.
Outdoor vehicle demonstrations.
Continental breakfast, lunch and snacks.
Networking.
Prize drawings.
And much more!

Registration and Sponsorship Opportunities can be found HERE.

EMPOWER Workplace Charging

If you own an electric vehicle or

are considering buying one, WORKPLACE

CHARGING can be a POSITIVE benefit for

you and the environment.

Workplace Charging is a convenient way

to charge vehicles. It adds equity to

communities for long commutes or for

those without charging access at home.

Employees are the best advocates for

Workplace Charging. EMPOWER your

workplace by making your interest in clean

electric vehicles with your employer.

EV charging brings customers to your workplace. It also supports the local economy by attracting EV drivers to shop in areas with charging.

Supporting zero-emission electric vehicles supports a cleaner environment

and better health for the community at large.

Learn More

Clean Transportation: Clean Energy Funding Series

Lorrie Lisek, Executive Director for Wisconsin Clean Cities spoke in the Clean Transportation webinar! In this webinar you will learn the types of clean transportation funding available to businesses, governments, schools, rural areas, tribes and communities, organizations, and individuals and what you need to do in advance to be ready to apply. You will learn about business funding for EV charging, Drive Clean rural assessments, as well as strategies to apply for electric school buses and electric city buses in Wisconsin. Clean transportation funding can be in your future, we’ll introduce you to resources to assist you!

Webinar

Kwik Trip continues its reign as the best fueling station in the country

A recent list from USA Today has named Wisconsin-based Kwik Trip the best fueling station in the country for the 4th consecutive year.

Kwik Trip was featured on a 2023 top-10 list where readers voted on what they thought was the upper echelon of fueling station chains across the country. In addition to providing an excellent customer experience, Kwik Trip leads the way in providing convenient access to alternative fuels, driving us towards a greener future.

A BIG Congratulations to our Wisconsin Clean Cities Member Kwik Trip!

Ho-Chunk Wisconsin Dells Ribbon Cutting

Wisconsin Clean Cities attended the ribbon cutting for one of Wisconsin's largest and fastest public electric vehicle (EV) charging stations at Ho-Chunk Gaming Wisconsin Dells! This is a huge step towards a greener future, and we're thrilled to be apart of it!

2023 Sustainable Sun Prairie Roundtable

Wednesday, June 7, 2023 · 2:00pm - 5:00pm CDT

Sun Prairie will be hosting its first-ever community event focused on sustainability initiatives and projects in our community. The roundtable will include presentations from the energy, transportation and materials management sector and will touch on programs from the macro to local level. This event will be held in a facilitated style of presentations creating an opportunity to engage the audience and give them time to engage in smaller group/table discussions.

This roundtable will include speakers covering the following:

Energy: Maximizing incentives from the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), WPPI, and Focus on Energy, local clean energy efforts ; county, region, and state clean energy efforts and programs from Sustain Dane and RENEW WI
Materials Management: Dane County’s Materials Recovery Facility and Dane County’s Organics Management Grant Program, Sustain Dane initiatives, programs and activities, Sun Prairie’s Municipal Composting Pilot and future planning for Biosolids Recovery Center
Transportation Planning: WICC efforts, programs, and opportunities, RoundTrip and other MPO efforts, and Sun Prairie’s Local Bus Service and 2023 BRT planning

Event is free and open to the public!

Learn More

The CNG classes that will be offered at MATC this Summer

The Diesel-400 “CNG for Heavy Duty Applications” (5 Day) class will be offered June 12^th-16^th, from 8am-4:30pm daily M-F. Attending students will receive 1 continuing education credit for the class. The students will leave with a good understanding of natural gas for use as a vehicle fuel, how to safely work with CNG powered vehicles, as well as the operation and maintenance of the Cummins 9L ISL G and ISX 12G products. Students will utilize Cummins Insite as well as QuickServe Online service information for diagnostic and repair procedures.

The Diesel-401 “CNG Tank and Fuel System Inspection class” (2 day) will be offered July 18th - 19^th Tuesday and Wednesday from 8am-4:30pm.

Current regulations require that all CNG tanks be visually inspected by a certified inspector every 3 years or 36,000 miles whichever comes first or in the event of an accident or fire on the vehicle.

This class will cover the inspection requirements and techniques as defined by industry standards and regulations. This class would serve as a preparatory class for students who would like to take the CSA certification exam to become a "Certified CNG Fuel System Inspector".

https://www.csagroup.org/store/product/2703393/

Questions? Contact Craig Kuehl

414-571-4766

kuehlc@matc.edu

City of Ashland Just installed Two EV Charging Stations

Here’s some great news: The City of Ashland just installed two EV charging stations right downtown!

There will be an official ribbon cutting ceremony on Thursday, June 15 at 1:00 PM in the parking lot where the charging stations are located, 600 W. Main Street, across from City Hall. Meet with City Administrator Brant Kucera and Xcel Energy employees to hear how the stations came to be installed.

FUNDING UPDATES

First Round of Funding Announced for Charging and Fueling Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program (CFI)

The Biden-Harris administration opened applications for the first round of funding for the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Charging and Fueling Infrastructure (CFI) Discretionary Grant Program.

The multi-billion-dollar program will fund electric vehicle (EV) charging and alternative-fueling infrastructure in communities across the country and along designated highways, interstates, and major roadways.

This program, established by the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, will provide $2.5 billion over five years to a wide range of applicants, including cities, counties, local governments, and tribes. The CFI Discretionary Grant Program builds on the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Formula Program, for which the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) published finalized minimum standards earlier this month.

This first round of funding makes up to $700 million from Fiscal Years (FY) 2022 and 2023 funding available to strategically deploy EV charging and other alternative vehicle-fueling infrastructure projects in publicly accessible locations in urban and rural communities, as well as along designated Alternative Fuel Corridors (AFCs). The due date has been extended to June 13, 2023.

More Details

DOE Announces $750 Million to Advance Clean Hydrogen Technologies

EERE’s Hydrogen and Fuel Cell Technologies Office announced the availability of $750 million for research, development, and demonstration efforts to dramatically reduce the cost of clean hydrogen. This funding represents a crucial step in accelerating the widespread use of clean hydrogen and plays a vital role in achieving commercial-scale hydrogen deployment this decade.

Announcing the 2023 Clean School Bus Grant Program

EPA is announcing the 2023 Clean School Bus (CSB) Grant Program! This is the first grant funding opportunity through the multi-year funding program and follows the 2022 CSB Rebate Program, which was the first round of funding. Under the 2023 Grant Program, EPA anticipates awarding approximately $400 million in competitive grant funding to eligible applicants for the purchase of zero-emission (ZE) school buses, clean school buses, and ZE charging infrastructure.

DOE Clean Energy Infrastructure Program & Funding Opportunities

With $97 billion in funding from President Biden's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and the Inflation Reduction Act, the U.S. Department of Energy is focused on expanding its existing and creating new pathways for federal investments in research and development, demonstration, and deployment programs to help to achieve carbon-free electricity in the U.S. by 2035 and a net-zero economy by 2050.

Fiscal Year 2023 Advanced Vehicle Technologies Funding Opportunity

The U.S. Department of Energy's Vehicle Technologies Office (VTO) announced a new $99.5 million funding opportunity. VTO’s fiscal year 2023 funding opportunity, will support projects to reduce soft costs to improve EV charging infrastructure in underserved communities, provide consumer education on EVs and EV charging, and develop batteries that use low-cost, abundant materials. This funding opportunity seeks the participation of underserved communities and underrepresented groups, and applicants are required to submit Diversity,

USDA Announces Webinars on Inflation Reduction Act Programs to Advance Clean Energy Initiatives in Rural America

U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Rural Development Rural Utilities Service Administrator Andy Berke today announced that USDA will host a series of webinars to help organizations learn how to apply for financial assistance to advance clean, affordable and reliable electric energy in rural America.

Member Spotlight: We Energies

Headquartered in downtown Milwaukee’s Public Service Building, We Energies is Wisconsin’s largest electric and natural gas utility. The publicly-traded company serves eastern Wisconsin and Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.

We Energies embraces their responsibility to provide safe, reliable and affordable energy in an environmentally sustainable manner. They set their strategies and run their operations with an emphasis on continuous improvement and a vision to deliver a cleaner energy future by:

Reducing greenhouse gas emissions by reshaping their generation fleet
Supporting environmental research and development
Monitoring and regularly sharing information about environmental performance
Mitigating the environmental impact of their operations
Equipping their employees and contractors with proper environmental training and tools

Learn More

Board Member Spotlight

This month,we spotlight Dan Nordloh, Senior Vice President & General Manager of Distributed Energy at EnTech Solutions.

Learn more about Dan and his commitment to the Wisconsin Clean Cities mission!

How long have you been a board member of Wisconsin Clean Cities?

Coming up on 2 years

Why did you join the WCC Board?

I joined the board as an auxiliary to support WCC's efforts in leading WI and the region toward a cleaner, more sustainable future. Our region is home to some remarkable technology and business model innovation, and to be an integrated supporter of WCC efforts is an honor.

What is your favorite part of being a WCC Board Member?

Gaining an understanding of the various individuals, companies and organizations that are committed to the cause, and their "why" behind their motivation.

Do you volunteer for any organization? What do you enjoy most about volunteering?

I do... I enjoy the opportunity to learn, influence, create passion, help others understand the "why" that actually motivates them, collaborate, empower, build confidence and drive effective change. I derive my energy from interacting with others and volunteering delivers in all of these regards.

What is the last book you read?

"The World Played Chess", a novel about the impact on a young man's life as a result of serving as a Marine in Vietnam.

What is your favorite hobby?

I enjoy traveling... seeing the United States and internationally to experience various cultures. I do enjoy work and find that gets a lot of my mind share. I'm about to try a couple of activities newer to me... we'll see if I enjoy them enough to eventually consider them as hobbies!

Whats the best concert you ever attended?

Genesis 1981 in Cincinnati, OH

What is the next place on your travel bucket list?

Morocco... specifically Marrakesh

Thank you Dan! We appreciate you!

Featured Technology: Ethanol

Ethanol is a renewable fuel made from corn and various other plant materials collectively known as “biomass”. The use of ethanol is widespread, with more than 95 percent of U.S. gasoline containing ethanol in a low-level blend to oxygenate the fuel and reduce air pollution.

Ethanol is also available as E85, a high-level ethanol blend containing 51 percent to 83 percent ethanol, depending on geography and season. The blend can be used in flexible fuel vehicles which have an internal combustion engine and run on either E85 or gasoline. According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, there are more than 8 million FFVs on U.S. roads today. However, many flex fuel vehicle owners don’t realize their car is an FFV and that they have a choice of fuels.

Other than employing an ethanol-compatible fuel system and powertrain calibration, FFVs are similar to their conventional gasoline counterparts. The only difference is the fuel economy is lower when FFVs run on ethanol. Their power, acceleration, payload and cruise speed are comparable whether running on ethanol or gasoline.

There are several steps involved in making ethanol available as a vehicle fuel:

Biomass feedstocks are grown, collected and transported to an ethanol production facility
Feedstocks are made into ethanol at a production facility and transported to a blender/fuel supplier
Ethanol is mixed with gasoline by the blender/fuel supplier and distributed to fueling stations

Ethanol as a vehicle fuel is not a new concept. Henry Ford and other early automakers suspected it would be the world’s primary fuel before gasoline became so readily available. Today, researchers agree ethanol could substantially offset our nation’s petroleum use. Studies estimate ethanol and other biofuels could replace 30 percent or more of U.S. gasoline demand by 2030.

More information can be found at the Alternative Fuels Data Center:

http://www.afdc.energy.gov/fuels/ethanol.html