After hinting in mid-April at an extended test of electric vehicle charging stations, Northeast Utilities is pushing ahead with pilot installations at some 30 locations statewide, including at UBS in Stamford and in the town of Westport.
The effort comes even as the U.S. House of Representatives reconsiders the proposed Electric Drive Vehicle Deployment Act, which would make 10 grants of $300 million each to communities nationally. The funds would be used to provide $2,000 for the first 50,000 purchasers of electric vehicles in each community, in addition to any state and federal tax credits they might receive.
The act would also extend to 2014 existing federal tax credits for the purchase and installation of electric vehicle charging equipment for individuals (up to $2,000) or businesses (up to $50,000 for multiple equipment purchases).
The bill would also authorize additional development, deployment and manufacturing incentives for electric vehicle technologies, including bond authority and a limited number of smaller grants for municipalities not selected as deployment communities.
The legislation won plaudits from the Electrification Coalition, whose board includes Jeff Immelt, CEO of Fairfield-based General Electric Co., which sells the WattStation electric vehicle charging station.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel M. Malloy has yet to make any statement on whether the state will assist communities in pursuing the federal funding, which he touted as a general goal of his administration. Only last week, Connecticut received $30 million in federal funding toward a high-speed rail line for the central part of Connecticut, far less than the $227 million it had sought.
Only two years ago, Northeast Utilities unsuccessfully sought federal assistance to roll out 600 charging stations across its territories. It is now pushing ahead on its own plan to support electric vehicles. To raise awareness, Northeast Utilities has created a website at www.plugmyride.org to connect consumers and other groups interested in electric vehicles.
“We”™ve worked hard to make Connecticut an early market for electric vehicles, so we”™re excited to launch New England”™s first comprehensive, hands-on EV study,” said Jeff Butler, president of Northeast Utilities subsidiary Connecticut Light & Power, in a prepared statement. “By gathering information from municipal and business customers, we can gain tangible experience to help guide future decisions about our infrastructure, our policies and how we will ultimately serve all of our customers as EVs become more common.”
The Northeast Utilities announcement arrived even as GE staff swung through New York City this month on its national Electric Vehicle Experience Tour, before pushing on mid-month to Washington, D.C.
The tour includes demonstrations of the GE WattStation electric vehicle charging station, test drives for interested consumers and workshops to support EV planning, deployment and integration strategies.
“The business case for electric vehicles is growing even stronger amid rising fuel costs, economic and energy security concerns and the need for sustainable transportation,” said Clarence Nunn, president and CEO of GE Capital Fleet Services, a subsidiary of Norwalk-based GE Capital. “At each of our EV Experience Tour stops, we”™ve been able to help our customers position their own organizations to take advantage of this exciting new technology.”
