Mills, Efficiency Maine partner on electric vehicle initiatives
Photo / Tim Greenway
An electric vehicle recharges its battery at one of ReVision Energy's electric vehicle charging stations in Maine. Some $5.1 million in electric vehicle initiatives were announced by Gov. Janet Mills today.
Gov. Janet Mills and Efficiency Maine Trust announced Thursday initiatives, including financial incentives, to expand the use of electric vehicles across Maine in an effort to reduce the state’s carbon footprint and reliance on fossil fuels.
The initiatives are in part the result of a $5.1 million settlement with Volkswagen won last year by Mills when she was attorney general. The initiatives will have a variety of results, from lowering municipal and nonprofit costs, help reduce the state’s carbon footprint and boost tourism, according to Thursday news release from Mills’ office.
Approximately half of the $5.1 million will be used for a financial incentive program to help public agencies and organizations that serve the elderly, low-income Mainers and Mainers with special needs to buy electric vehicles. Efficiency Maine estimates that the money will be sufficient to leverage local funding for 100 new electric vehicles being used in local communities, lowering the operating costs of those fleets and raising visibility and awareness of the vehicles and their benefits, the release said.
The other half of the $5.1 million will be used for a rebate program for residents and businesses that buy electric vehicles. Efficiency Maine estimates the program, which will be modeled on those in use in other states, will lead to purchase of approximately 900 electric vehicles, which would more than double what’s on Maine roads, the release said.
Both of these initiatives come as the variety of electric vehicle models coming on the market is growing, with vastly improved ranges and more affordable prices, the release said. Emissions from cars, trucks and other vehicles account for more than half of all carbon dioxide emissions in Maine’s transportation sector.
“Maine people shell out five billion dollars a year to out-of-state fossil fuel companies, and a lot of that money is spent on gas for vehicles that just becomes carbon dioxide pumped into our atmosphere,” Mills said in the release. “We can do better. It is time to usher in the next generation of technologies that will move our state towards a renewable future.
"These initiatives are a critical step in that direction. By increasing our use of electric vehicles and building out the clean energy infrastructure to support them, Maine is making substantial and meaningful progress in transitioning us away from fossil fuels and towards renewable energy sources, which will help slash carbon emissions and combat climate change. I am glad to see this money I won as Attorney General put to good use for Maine people.”
Combined results expected
The combined result of the initiatives, according to Mills’ office, will be to:
- Reduce operating costs and conserve Maine taxpayer dollars for departments and agencies of state, county or local government;
- Reduce operating costs and improve fiscal sustainability of organizations serving elderly, special needs, or low-income Mainers;
- Complement the ongoing efforts through the Maine DOT and Efficiency Maine to establish a network of EV charging infrastructure at strategic locations across the state;
- Encourage and promote car dealers stocking and marketing all-electric vehicles to Maine consumers;
- Begin to transform the marketplace for vehicles;
- Raise awareness in Maine of the potential economic and environmental impacts of EVs;
- Reduce Maine’s carbon footprint
- Spur EV tourism to regions across Maine.
$5.1 million settlement
In 2017, Mills won $5.1 million for the state after taking legal action against Volkswagen and its affiliates Audi AG and Porsche AG for violating state environmental laws and emissions through their marketing and sales of light vehicles in Maine.
“The Office of the Attorney General brought this suit against Volkswagen because they intentionally violated auto emissions standards, allowing up to 35 times the legal limit of harmful nitrogen oxide pollutants into the air,” said Attorney General Aaron Frey. “The funds from the state’s settlement with Volkswagen are to be used to benefit Maine’s environment, and this electric vehicle initiative will do just that.”
To help build out the transportation infrastructure to serve the growing number of electric vehicles which will spur tourism, benefit the Maine economy, and protect the environment, Efficiency Maine said that it will issue in April a competitive solicitation for bids to install 50 to 60 electric vehicle charging stations across the state at public properties, workplaces or multi-unit dwellings.
Locating the charging stations at a mix of crossroads and destination towns will make it easier for Maine businesses and municipal governments to introduce more EVs and plug-in hybrids to their fleets and lower their transportation costs since running vehicles on electric charge costs less than gas or diesel.
Additionally, it will complement the parallel efforts underway at Efficiency Maine to develop a network of DC “fast chargers” that can deliver up to 250 miles of range per hour, which will serve Mainers making longer, in-state day-trips and connect Maine’s major corridors and destinations to the growing number of EV drivers traveling on business or vacation from Quebec, New Hampshire and Southern New England, the release said.
“Strategically positioning EV chargers across the state — whether at shopping centers, recreation destinations, workplaces, parking lots, gas stations and Turnpike plazas — will reassure EV drivers in Maine that in fact, you can get there from here,” Michael Stoddard, Efficiency Maine executive director, said in the release.
“These funds will enable the state of Maine to jump start the EV charging infrastructure across the state, benefiting our environment and reducing Mainers’ reliance on fossil fuels to power their vehicles,” said Bruce Van Note, commissioner of the Maine Department of Transportation, the agency that will fund the initiative through funding provided by the federal government’s settlement against VW.
Most Recent
Most Recent
0 Comments