Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition.

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1 Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition

2 Coalition Background Rogue Valley Clean Cities was one of the first 10 coalitions created by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Energy Policy Act of Funding is from the US Department of Energy, Business Oregon and donations from local business and agencies including Avista, Rogue Valley Transportation District, Jackson County, Lithia, TC Chevy and Southern Oregon Subaru Volvo Mitsubishi.

3 Coalition Status and Mission Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition membership comprised of public agencies and businesses is working together to promote programs in the Rogue Valley that advance the U.S. Department of Energy s economic, environmental and energy security objectives of reducing dependence on foreign oil. Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition received 501(c)(3) status from the Internal Revenue Service on April 5, The coalition is registered as a nonprofit corporation with the Oregon Secretary of State.

4 Coalition History Rogue Valley Transportation District helped start the coalition in the early 1990s. It was one of the first 10 coalitions created by the U.S. Department of Energy through the Energy Policy Act of Scott Rayburn of RVTD was the first coordinator, followed by Steve Vincent of Avista. For the past four years, the coordinator has been Sue Kupillas, a Jackson County Commissioner for 16 years. The coalition has a stakeholder membership of 200, with about 25 active public private agencies and businesses including Oregon Department of Transportation, Oregon Department of Energy, Department of Environmental Quality, RVTD, Avista and Jackson County. The coalition is governed by a board of directors that meets monthly:

5 Coalition Stakeholders Rogue Valley Transportation District. Since 1994, RVTD has used clean-burning natural gas in 15 of its 23 fleet buses. RVTD is Oregon s only transit district with a dedicated CNG fleet. RVTD s fast-fueling station for CNG is open to the public. It s one of the largest public stations in Oregon. Rogue Disposal and Recycling purchased a CNG commercial front loader truck in February 2012, one of the first in Oregon. The company purchased a second CNG truck and plans to continue moving toward a CNG fleet. AVISTA Utilities: Avista is converting 150 fleet vehicles to natural gas, with the first 20 by the end of Avista plans 1 private and 3 public CNG fueling stations. Avista donated CNG fleet vehicles to Eagle Point and Phoenix and serves as a resource for RVTD s CNG fueling station.

6 Coalition Stakeholders Jackson County converted five F-150 pickups to propane this year, displacing 8,600 gallons of petroleum. The conversion cost was $7,000 per truck. Lower fuel prices and DOE credits may result in an estimated $5,237 savings per truck. City of Medford purchased a CNG Schwarze 8000 street sweeper in The CNG sweeper gets 3.7 miles per gallon, compared to 1.87 mpg for the diesel sweeper. The city has saved about $6,000 in fuel costs and displaced 2,095 gallons of diesel after 6 months of using the CNG sweeper. Medford purchased a second CNG fleet vehicle, a Ford transit van. Rogue Valley Sewer Services purchased a CNG Ford F-350 with a Knapheide custom body. The new CNG truck helps meet the board s goal of sustainability.

7 Petroleum Displacement The Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition collects statistics from public and private fleet managers on behalf of the US Department of Energy. More than 14 million gallons of gasoline is being displaced in the region as a result of local fleets using clean-burning fuels such as natural gas, propane, electricity and biodiesel, the Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition 2011 Annual Report shows.

8 Greenhouse Gas Emissions Reduction Greenhouse gas emissions were reduced by 12,407 tons in Southern Oregon, the Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition Annual Report shows. The greenhouse gas emissions are a result of public and private fleets using cleanburning fuels and reducing idling. Rogue Valley Clean Cities collected data for the USDOE.

9 Future Petroleum Displacement and GHG Emissions Reduction Jackson County and Rogue Disposal and Recycling received CMAQ funding to study the feasibility of converting landfill gas to compressed natural gas. The CNG would provide clean-burning, domestic fuel for waste trucks and other heavy-duty fleets in the Rogue Valley. If all 50 waste trucks burned CNG, it would displace 232,649 additional gallons of diesel annually. With the 50 CNG waste trucks, the region s total gas/gallon equivalent reduction would be 1.73 million gallons. Furthermore, the 50 CNG waste trucks would help reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 16,523 tons.

10 Regional Projects Rogue Valley Transportation District upgraded and increased the capacity of its CNG fueling station using Connect Oregon III and Federal Highway Administration Surface Transportation (STP) funds. The station has four hoses capable of filling tanks at 3600 psi., which will improve range for the 15 RVTD buses and the Rogue Disposal garbage trucks that use the new station. Open to the public, the station is located at 3200 Crater Lake Avenue. The current price of CNG is $1.74. The Rogue Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, in cooperation with FHWA, awarded Jackson County and Rogue Disposal and Recycling a $100,000 CMAQ grant to study the conversion of methane to mobile fuel renewable natural gas (RNG) at Dry Creek Landfill for a local fleet fuel supply. It is estimated to reduce greenhouse gas emissions annually by 14,000 tons. Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition, Avista, RVTD and Jackson County sponsored a fleet conference and vehicle show June 27 at the Jackson County Public Works Auditorium in White City. At the conference, Ashley Horvat of ODOT announced $20,000 grants for the purchase of electric trucks ( Jason Darrow of Siskiyou County Economic Development Council announced a study for finding I-5 fast-charging stations in Northern California to extend the West Coast Electric Highway. Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition, ODOT and Oregon Department of Energy sponsored the grand opening of the West Coast Electric Highway at I-5 Exit 33. Oregon s EV Project was funded by a $99.8 million Recovery Act grant through the U.S. Department of Energy. The grand opening attracted media attention around the world. See the coverage on the Events Page at

11 Fleet Outreach Central Point Public Works: The city received a CMAQ grant to purchase 7 police vehicles and 6 public works trucks to be converted to propane hybrids. The public works director hopes all future city vehicles will be powered by alternative fuels. Brammo Motorsports: Electric Motorcycle Manufacturer Brammo announced this spring the company s new model. The Empulse has a 6- speed gear box which provides more control over the bike and more regenerative braking (charging the battery while applying the brakes). It has a range of 100 miles at speeds of up to 100 miles per hour. It will go into production this summer at the former Wal-Mart building in Talent. Brammo is providing the Ashland Police Department with an electric motorcycle to test drive. Brammo has financial support from GE and Polaris. Brammo also builds the Enertia, Enertia Plus and Empulse electric motorcycles and has sold bikes to the Hong Kong police department. Schwan s Home Service has used propane to fuel delivery trucks since They currently have 7 propane vehicles in the Rogue Valley and 65 propane vehicles in Oregon. They recently bought an International diesel truck for propane conversion.

12 Oregon Clean Fuels Program In Spring 2011, Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition and Department of Environmental Quality co-sponsored an Oregon Clean Fuels presentation before the Rogue Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization. Today, Cory Ann Wind of DEQ will give an update about the program designed to lower the carbon content in fuels in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Last year s MPO audience included Jackson County Commissioner Don Skundrick and City of Medford Councilman Al Densmore.

13 Coalition Newsletter and Website Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition maintains a popular website and Facebook page, publishes a newsletter and is building a Twitter following. In 2011, the Board of Directors asked staff to increase the coalition s social media presence.

14 Coalition Stakeholder Events Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition held 12 stakeholder events in , including conferences for fleet managers and an electric vehicle show at SOU. The goal is to provide resources and education about alternative fuels. About 400 people attended the events. But the coalition reached thousands more through television coverage, news stories in the Mail Tribune newspaper and live interviews on JPR and KCMX.

15 Next Event: Electric Car Show August 1, 2012 at RFCU Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition will sponsor the second annual electric car show and forum Wednesday August 1, from 11:30 am to 1 pm at Rogue Federal Credit Union, 1330 Poplar (at McAndrews). Last year about 75 attended the event. Participants included Justin Denley, one of the region s first Nissan Leaf owners, Lithia, TC Chevy and Rogue Federal Credit Union. Four television stations and the Mail Tribune covered the event.

16 Next Event: Brammo Electric Motorcycle Time Trials October 20, 2012 Rogue Valley Clean Cities Coalition will sponsor the Brammo Electric Motorcycle Time Trials Saturday October 20, 2012, from 11 am to 2 pm at the Southern Oregon Kart Track, 6900 Kershaw Road, Medford. This is one of 150 Odyssey Day events held across the country on behalf of the National Alternative Fuels Training Consortium. At the local event, riders will negotiate the 3/4-mile track, competing for the fastest time. Brammo engineers will answer questions. There will be an electric boat, electric car, motorcycle gear, fast charging station, a map of the West Coast Electric Highway and more.

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