Austin Energy, a CEE member, is pursuing automobile energy efficiency and emission reduction through a bulk-purchase campaign.

The Texas utility is attempting to create a national market for Plug-In Hybrid Electric Vehicles (PHEVs) and thus convince automobile manufacturers to produce them en masse.

PHEVs are outfitted with a battery pack sufficient to power the vehicle from 20 to 60 miles on battery charge alone. The battery can be recharged from a standard electric outlet at a cost of less $1 per day (based on current rates).

Batteries can be charged at night, when electricity demand is lowest. Considering that half the cars on America's roads are driven 25 miles a day or less, a plug-in with a 25-mile range battery could eliminate gasoline use in the daily commute of millions of Americans.

This is the theory behind Austin Energy's Plug-In Partners campaign, which was launched earlier this year and targets local and state governments, utilities, and environmental, consumer and business organizations. Austin Energy has been soliciting "soft" orders from partners around the country in an attempt to build a demand for PHEVs. At the present time, these vehicles are not commercially available but there are prototypes in operation.

Although a “soft” order is non-binding, it is a way to measure interest. So far, 29 cities and 45 government entities have joined the national Plug-in Partners campaign. More than 6,200 “soft” orders have been solicited from cities, and governments, utilities and businesses. The Minnesota Department of Natural Resources has been a leader with 1,800 orders.

The City of Austin has placed 800 fleet orders and has pledged $1 million to provide incentives to consumers and businesses to purchase plug-in vehicles when they become available.

For further information about Plug-In Partners, see the campaign Web site (www.pluginpartners.org) or contact Lisa Braithwaite of Austin Energy at 512-322-6511.

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