Jump-starting the Clean Energy Economy
Yesterday, I helped jump-start a new chapter in Houston’s energy economy: Houston Drives Electric.
Houston has the opportunity to become a leader in the clean energy economy, and create thousands of good jobs in the process.
I’m committed to attracting clean energy jobs to Houston by keeping taxes low and providing economic incentives for clean energy businesses that want to work in Houston.
Houston Drives Electric is the next step in becoming the nation’s leader in the new energy economy. I’m excited for Houston’s future in the clean energy economy. Are you?
-Annise
City hoping to jump-start electric car usage
Houston Chronicle
The Petro Metro is positioning itself as an early adopter of electric vehicles by seeding the city with charging stations for cars that don't need gasoline.
"Oil and gas is going to continue to be with us and incredibly important for the foreseeable future. But there is another future out there as well, and Houston's going to be prepared for that future," Mayor Annise Parker, a former oil and gas exploration company software analyst, told a gathering Thursday where the city debuted its first two electric-only cars.
City officials and entrepreneurs gathered in an H-E-B parking lot on Buffalo Speedway, where one of the new stations has been installed, to announce their coordinated efforts to roll out more than 250 stations across Houston by the end of the year.
Parker pitched what she calls Houston Drives Electric as a continuation of the innovative, entrepreneurial spirit that has characterized Houston from its origins. Parker said the city figures to save at least $7,000 per car in fuel and maintenance costs in the first three years of the 25-car electric-only fleet it will purchase by the end of the year.
200 stations to come
The city also has retrofitted 15 of its existing hybrid vehicles to charge off the stations. In addition, the city is installing 56 charging stations of its own - half in the City Hall parking garage to service the municipal fleet, and half for public use at libraries, Hermann Park, the Arboretum and other parks. The city stations are funded by state and federal grants.
San Francisco-based ECOtality will install 200 stations for public use this year, and NRG Energy's eVgo electric vehicle charging network will put 25 in Houston this year and 25 more next year.
More than 73,000 plug-in electric vehicles will travel Houston's streets by 2020, according to city projections.
Thursday's announcement declares the first steps toward providing the infrastructure to support so many electric vehicles.
Russ Keene, president of the electric car advocacy group Plug-In Texas, said Houston Drives Electric is crucial to reducing what is known in the business as "range anxiety" - a motorist's fear of being stranded in an insufficiently charged vehicle.
"You really are setting the standard here," Keene told Parker. "Houston's roads are about to get quieter and cleaner."
'Historic juncture'
Electric cars will contribute to what Parker called a "new transportation paradigm" that she hopes will be a model for the nation. The city-controlled local transit agency also is building new light rail lines, and the city continues to add bike lanes.
"We're at a historic juncture," the mayor said. "Decision drivers for the city and the region are no longer just economics. There's an emerging recognition that the city of Houston has to also be concerned about being a livable city with a variety of options for all our citizens."
Photo courtesy Creative Commons user Simon Aughton.
