Posts tagged Joe Castro

City of Boulder part of coalition receiving $500,000 grant from U.S. Department of Energy to advance electric vehicles and charging locations

The City of Boulder is part of the Colorado Clean Cities Coalition that was awarded $500,000 in grant funds under the Clean Cities Community Readiness and Planning for Plug-in Electric Vehicles and Charging Infrastructure Funding Opportunity. The grant was awarded by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) on Sept. 8, 2011.

The grant funds will be shared by multiple public and private agencies to help fund Project FEVER (Funding Electric Vehicle Expansion in the Rockies), a year-long endeavor that will overcome barriers that are impeding penetration of electric vehicles in the marketplace. FEVER is a statewide plan that will target five core areas to prepare Colorado for electric vehicles and charging infrastructure: regulatory; permitting; planning; policy; and marketing, education and outreach.

In Boulder, the grant will provide funds to:

Help establish guidelines to determine the best locations for electric vehicle (EV) charging stations;
Standardize permitting operations; and,
Create a plan for linking Boulder to other communities in a statewide EV charging network.

“By developing the next generation of automotive engineers and preparing communities for plug-in electric vehicles, these projects will help reduce our nation’s dependence on oil imports, create jobs, and help America capture the growing global market for advance vehicles,” said U.S. DOE Secretary Steven Chu.

Sixty partners have come together to support this project, and include the City of Boulder, the Colorado Governor’s Energy Office, the Colorado Department of Transportation, Xcel Energy, the Regional Air Quality Council, the City and County of Denver and several other private and public partners.

Sponsored by DOE’s Vehicle Technologies Program and administered by the American Lung Association in Colorado, the Denver Metro Clean Cities Coalition is a government-industry partnership designed to reduce petroleum consumption in the transportation sector.

For more information, contact Joe Castro, City of Boulder Facilities and Fleet manager, at castroj@bouldercolorado.gov or 303-441-3163.