Maine Audubon among those getting PEV grants

AUGUSTA, Maine - Central Maine Power Co. has named three more nonprofit organizations that will receive funding for the purchase and installation of plug-in electric vehicle (PEV) charging equipment. The winners were announced earlier this month at National Drive Electric Week festivities at the South Portland Community Center.

CMP will award $5,000 to Maine Audubon to support the purchase and installation of electric car charging equipment at the organization's Gilsland Farm preserve in Falmouth. Receiving $2,500 each for similar projects are Thomas College in Waterville and the William A. Farnsworth Library and Art Museum of Rockland.

"We're very grateful to our friends at CMP for underwriting this important addition to Gilsland Farm's renewable energy infrastructure," said Maine Audubon Executive Director Charles Gauvin. "We're so fortunate to be able to tap the sun for electricity, and now, thanks to CMP, electric vehicle owners visiting us can tap the sun to charge up their vehicles."

The grants are the latest in several rounds of awards designed to expand the use of electric vehicles in Maine. Since the program was launched in 2013, CMP has awarded 25 organizations nearly $210,000 to help with the purchase or lease of a PEV and/or to install charging stations. CMP's program has added 18 PEVs to Maine roads, and new charging stations are going on line in key locations around central and southern Maine.

"Our latest round of grants will put charging equipment in new locations," said Sara J. Burns, president and CEO of CMP. "This new charging infrastructure represents another step toward broader adoption of electric vehicles and their associated environmental benefits across Maine."

In addition to CMP's grant program, the Iberdrola USA Foundation provided the Greater Portland Council of Governments with $50,000 in August to help various cities, towns, and businesses install PEV charging station technology. To date, this initiative has put seven new charging stations online - three in the City of Portland, and one each in Raymond, Falmouth, New Gloucester, and Windham. The Foundation expects to fund a total of 18 charging stations including additional installations in Auburn, Augusta, Bridgton, Cape Elizabeth, Freeport, Portland, Yarmouth and other communities.

CMP's support of expanded PEV charging infrastructure extends to public policy initiatives. This year, the 127^th Maine Legislature enacted, with CMP's support, L.D. 593, An Act To Allow the Resale of Electricity by Electric Vehicle Charging Stations. The new law takes effect this fall and allows electric vehicle charging station hosts to recover the cost of electricity PEV operators use at their facilities.

Two Chevy Volts at CMP are among more than 80 passenger PEVs/hybrids in Iberdrola USA's fleet. The company also has 13 hybrid bucket trucks in its three utility operating companies in Maine and New York. In September of 2014, Iberdrola USA announced an agreement with the Edison Electric Institute (EEI) to spend a portion of its annual fleet acquisition budget on PEVs and equipment.