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December 2015 Edition
Steering Committee Results, Costs of EV Charging Installation, Workplace Charging Resources, WWCC Member Updates, All About Biodiesel, WA's Alt Fuel Tax Incentive, Job Announcement, And More!
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With 2015 almost in the books, we thought we'd take a quick look back at a busy year:
Highlights
- We successfully were re-designated in July by the U.S. Department of Energy, which means another three years leading the region toward a clean transportation future.
- More growth! New members joined our coalition -- the City of Redmond, Potelco, Snohomish County Public Utility District, United Parcel Service and Mike Nykreim.
- Supported the King County-Cities Climate Collaboration (K4C) on several clean transportation issues, including electric vehicles, workplace charging, and a low-carbon fuel standard.
- Participated in the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Technical Advisory Group, where we helped to develop important criteria for the upcoming Alt Fuel Rule.
- Joined Energy Independence Days in Washington D.C., where we met with our state's Congress members to update them on our region's work and request more federal funding to support our efforts. And they must have been listening! Congress *just* passed a spending bill which increases national Clean Cities and DERA funding, and extends tax credits for alternative fuels through 2016.
- Further developed our membership benefits, which we expect to fully roll-out early next year!
Events
- Annual Awards & Recognition Dinner
In late April, members and partners gathered for a night of elegant celebration. The event marked an opportunity to highlight the past year's work and recognize the previous year's award winners in reducing our region's petroleum use.
- Idle Less, Save More
An educational event on the topic of engine idling, this workshop provided real-time examples of idle-reduction technologies on a variety of vehicles, from bucket trucks to police cruisers.
- Be Green & Save Green: Propane Autogas Open House
Co-hosted with Blue Star Gas, our open house allowed attendees to tour the region's newest public access propane autogas station and speak to industry experts.
- Don't Be Scared of Biodiesel
Our first-ever miniseries was a big success! The two-part event started with a webinar on the basics of biodiesel in the Pacific Northwest (a full recording of the webinar is available). A week later, we hosted a technical workshop covering the detailed steps of integrating biodiesel into fleet use, including storage and handling, vehicle compatibility, and procuring the fuel in today's Washington market.
- Why Workplace Charging?
Produced for K4C, this webinar outlines information about the Workplace Charging Challenge and other efforts to increase the availability of electric vehicle charging for employees.
Ideas for 2016? We're always listening to what our members want -- feel free to contact us with your feedback.
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Steering Committee Election Results
The votes are in!
We're pleased to welcome the following group of outstanding individuals to our Steering Committee:
- Forrest Gary, Recology CleanScapes -- Forrest has been the maintenance manager for CleanScapes since 2010 and will bring a private sector perspective and CNG knowledge to the committee.
- Ron Kahler, City of Renton -- Now the fleet manager for Renton, Ron has been involved with government fleets for nearly 25 years! His fleet services team has ranked among the '100 Best Fleets' at least five times under his management.
- Karin Landsberg, WSDOT -- With a background in air quality and analysis, Karin supports Washington's move towards a clean transportation future as a senior policy specialist for the State Department of Transportation.
- Andrea Pratt, City of Seattle -- Andrea manages the Green Fleet and Fuel programs for the City of Seattle Fleet Management Division. Under her watch, the City hopes to reduce fleet emissions by over 40% by 2020.
- Matt Stewart, Jefferson County -- Matt is a familiar face for Clean Cities! Notable recent efforts as fleet manager at the County include starting fleet-wide biodiesel usage and seeking funding for electric vehicle charging stations.
Special thanks to ALL of the candidates for their interest in joining us, and to our out-going members -- Chris Wiley (City of Seattle) and Janice Gedlund (Port of Seattle) -- for their time, dedication and innovative ideas.
Welcome to the team! Now let's go kick some serious gas.
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How Much Does It Cost To Install EV Charging?
New Report Outlines Costs & Considerations
As the popularity of electric vehicles continues to grow, so does the need for charging stations (also known as EVSE -- electric vehicle supply equipment). Although most EV drivers charge their cars at home, EVSE in non-residential locations, such as work or public places, are critical to combating the range anxiety that sometimes accompanies owning an EV.
To aid in the process of installing and operating an EV charging station, the U.S. Department of Energy recently released a new report: Costs Associated With Non-Residential Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment. The report draws on previous studies and industry experts to provide thorough information on EVSE costs, from construction and installation to maintenance and station repair.
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New Web Resource: Workplace Charging For Electric Vehicles
Sticking with the electric vehicle charging theme, we have a new website resource! In response to common inquiries from our stakeholders, we've put together a collection of resources on workplace charging.
It includes links to our favorite websites, great publications to get you started, and case studies of workplaces successfully offering charging to their employees. This is a work in progress -- check it out and let us know what you think.
Learn More
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Our members continue to make progress in reducing Western Washington's petroleum use. Check out a few of our region's latest alternative fuel successes:
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City of Mercer Island:
Soul in the City
After several years of test projects, the City of Mercer Island recently added the new Kia Soul EV to its fleet. The electric vehicle, which will primarily be used by the City's building inspectors, has a 90-mile range.
Due to favorable leasing fees, the Kia Soul EV costs less for the City than owning a standard gas vehicle. The City will also save money through lower operating costs since recharging the EV is nearly three times cheaper than gasoline in Washington State.
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City of Tacoma: Hybrids, BioD & CNG -- Oh My!
The City of Tacoma is celebrating a new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station built to support the City’s refuse trucks and public works vehicles. The City currently has several CNG refuse trucks in operation and is planning on additional CNG fleet acquisitions in 2016.
In addition to using biodiesel and CNG to reduce petroleum use, the City has also deployed six hydraulic hybrid refuse (Parker Hannfin) trucks. The hybrids have cut fuel consumption in half compared to their conventional counterparts and early indications suggest that the hybrids will dramatically extend brake service intervals. What’s more, one of the vehicles is a CNG-powered hydraulic hybrid!
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City of Redmond: Discovering the Pros of Propane
One of our newest members -- the City Redmond -- is pushing hard to reduce petroleum use. The City just awarded a bid to Blue Star Gas to convert nearly a dozen trucks to bi-fuel propane autogas and install a propane autogas fueling station within the City's fleet facility. After a successful pilot project, the City intends to increase the number of their propane autogas vehicles.
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King County: On the Expressway to Electric Fleets
Last week, King County became the latest Washington fleet to join the
West Coast Electric Fleets initiative. They signed on at the “Express Lane” level, signaling a commitment to make zero emission vehicles (ZEVs) at least 10 percent of their fleet's new sedans in 2016. The ZEVs -- which can be either battery electric or plug-in hybrid electric vehicles -- will be restricted to non-emergency purposes that require no more than 75 miles traveled per day.
King County's pledge marks an excellent starting point on the County's path towards a clean transportation future. The County's 2015 Strategic Climate Action Plan targets the increase of alternative fuel use by 10 percent (normalized) over 2014 levels by 2025!
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WSDOT: Bi-Fuel = Fuel Savings
Building on a successful bi-fuel propane autogas conversion pilot project, the Washington State Department of Transportation now has over 50 bi-fuel propane autogas vehicles. The bi-fuel system allows mission-critical incident response and maintenance work trucks to displace some serious petroleum without any performance or territory limitations.
The bi-fuel vehicles are expected to save over $30,000 in fuel over the life of each truck. As WSDOT continues to expand its infrastructure network, the Department plans to emphasize new propane autogas conversions for their vehicles, particularly in higher density areas such as King, Pierce, Snohomish, Thurston and Spokane counties.
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What is renewable natural gas and how can it be used to fuel vehicles?
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Biodiesel reduces greenhouse gas emissions and runs cleaner than petroleum diesel, improving diesel particulate filter performance. And not only is biodiesel feedstock grown right here in Washington, there’s every indication that the state’s biodiesel production will continue to grow. Biodiesel just makes sense, especially here in Washington State.
Read More
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WA State's Tax Incentive For Alt Fuel Vehicles
We often receive questions from members and other soon-to-be car owners along the lines of "What kind of incentives are out there to help me invest in a clean car?" This post highlights current state and federal tax incentives towards acquiring the green car of your dreams.
Read More
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Job Opportunity: Truck Program Specialist
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The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency is looking for a technician to support a multi-million dollar grant-funded truck replacement program for drayage trucks. The ScRAPS program provides financial incentives to owners of drayage trucks serving the Ports of Seattle and Tacoma to scrap their qualified older trucks and replace them with newer, less-polluting trucks.
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