The Regional Air Quality Council (RAQC) and Colorado Energy Office (CEO) have opened the Charge Ahead Colorado application for electric vehicle (EV) and charging station funding. At this time, the RAQC has funding for both charging stations and EVs for applicants within the Denver Metro Area. CEO has funding for charging stations for applicants outside the Denver Metro Area. All charging stations are required to be networked.
An application guide, informational webinar, application and other grant resources can be found on the Charge Ahead Colorado Homepage.
As Air Quality Awareness Week came to a close, the RAQC was featured in a FOX31 news story on how the recent “stay-at-home” orders created better air quality in our region and how we can continue the momentum of decreasing pollution.
The Charge Ahead Colorado program – an electric vehicle (EV) and infrastructure grant funding program formed in partnership by the RAQC and Colorado Energy Office – recently reached a significant milestone: funding more than 1,000 EV charging stations throughout the state. Electric vehicle adoption provides many benefits to the Denver Metro Area, including reduced harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.
You can read a press release about the milestone here.
The AQAW Proclamation encourages Coloradans to improve air quality with simple actions, including eliminating or combining car trips, teleworking, carpooling and vanpooling, taking public transportation, walking and biking, using low- or zero-emission vehicles, using electric lawn and garden tools, mowing lawns and refueling vehicles in the evening.
In an effort to keep interested stakeholders informed of current happenings with RAQC programs, partners, and air quality news and events, the RAQC created The Air Monitor quarterly e-newsletter. You can read the most current issue here. If you are interested in subscribing to the newsletter, sign up here or contact Sara Goodwin.
Today the Colorado Energy Office released the Colorado Electric Vehicle Plan 2020 at the April meeting of the Colorado Electric Vehicle Coalition.Transportation is one of the two largest sources of ozone precursors and reducing transportation emissions is a critical strategy to meet federal health-based air quality standards.
The RAQC played an important role in helping to craft this plan, along with partners at the Colorado Department of Transportation and Colorado Department of Public Health & Environment. You can find the full Colorado EV Plan 2020 here.
Complementary to the RAQC’s Charge Ahead Colorado (CAC) program, the RAQC is excited to share that Xcel Energy is offering Colorado businesses and organizations another opportunity to add electric vehicle (EV) charging infrastructure to their locations through their Electric Vehicle Supply Infrastructure Program. Eligible organizations can offer these EV charging stations to their own fleet vehicles and customers or to the public. This new program can help you install the electrical infrastructure needed for the EV charging stations at no cost.
See more information about the program, if your organization/company is eligible and how to apply here. The application is currently open through April 29th, and projects will be awarded and program steps will begin in mid-May 2020. There will be a second application round open in May/June 2020.
The RAQC’s CAC program, in partnership with the Colorado Energy Office, currently offers grant funding for charging station projects. The Xcel Energy program provides a great opportunity to supplement charging station project costs in conjunction with CAC funding. This makes providing charging stations an affordable option in many settings with the significant support currently being offered. Project implementation timelines for the Xcel and RAQC programs are flexible enough to take advantage of both funding opportunities. Adoption of electric vehicles is critical to improve air quality and meet the State’s environmental goals.
To improve air quality throughout the state of Colorado, today the RAQC reopened its ALT Fuels Colorado application round to continue incentivizing the replacement and scrappage of pre-2009 vehicles with fully Electric and Renewable Natural Gas (RNG) fleet vehicles. These funds are available to all public, private, and non-profit fleets statewide within Colorado. Go to the program website for more information and to apply.
As requested by Governor Polis and the CDC, the RAQC staff is taking precautions to address concerns about and decrease possible susceptibility or exposure to COVID-19. For that reason, all RAQC meetings will be migrated towards remote conferencing using Zoom for the foreseeable future, and we will reassess as new information becomes available. Please check our meeting agendas posted under the Meetings tab on our website to get access to Zoom meeting information. The RAQC office is currently open and it is “business as usual” at this time, but that could change if building management makes a decision to close. Please contact RAQC staff before arriving in person.
Also, please note that the RAQC staff may be exercising options to work remotely, and during this time, email is the best method of communication. The RAQC is working with all of its state and local partner agencies to ensure that our programs operate as normal, however, delays could occur as the situation evolves. We are closely monitoring the ever-evolving situation in order to respond to and prioritize the needs of our stakeholder partners, as well as the health and safety of our employees.
Sincerely,
Mike Silverstein
Executive Director
Regional Air Quality Council
1445 Market Street, Suite 260 │ Denver, CO 80202
303-629-5450, x250 │ 303-915-8236 cell │msilverstein@raqc.org
RAQC.org | CleanAirFleets.org | SimpleStepsBetterAir.org
The RAQC’s Simple Steps. Better Air. program has once again teamed up with Suffer Better. Suffer Better is a Colorado-based nonprofit that offers endurance athletes opportunities to give back to preserve and protect the natural environment, and support local communities through running events, educational programs and grants. Simple Steps. Better Air. is sponsoring the annual event, Running Up For Air-Colorado (RUFA-CO), an endurance race created to raise awareness and empower organizations working on air quality solutions. RUFA-CO takes place March 6-7, 2020 in Pine, Colo. at Staunton State Park. Athletes will commit to running for 3, 6, 12 or even 24 hours. Proceeds will benefit Protect Our Winters and Conservation Colorado. Find out more about the event here.
