FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
December 18, 2020
Contacts:
Matt Frommer, Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP) | mfrommer@swenergy.org
Danny Katz, Colorado Public Interest Research Group | danny@copirg.org
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[FORT COLLINS, CO] – A group of clean air, public health, and consumer protection organizations officially named Fort Collins a “GoEV City” at the City council meeting on December 15, 2020. The designation recognizes Fort Collins’ commitment to clean transportation. It was presented by the GoEV City Coalition (Colorado Public Interest Research Group (CoPIRG), Colorado Sierra Club, the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP), Conservation Colorado and Clean Energy Economy for the Region (CLEER)).
Fort Collins joins Boulder County, Denver, City of Boulder, Summit County, and City of Golden in earning the GoEV City designation. These communities have all made commitments to move to 100% zero-emission transportation as a key strategy to reduce air pollution, protect the climate, and save people money. All have plans to accelerate the transition from oil to electric vehicles (EVs) including city fleets, public transportation, passenger cars and trucks, and medium and heavy-duty vehicles.
“Moving to electric transportation will have major benefits for our health, our climate, and for our wallets,” said Danny Katz, Executive Director of CoPIRG and representative of the GoEV City Coalition. “We commend Fort Collins city leaders for setting ambitious goals for EV deployment, putting plans into place, and taking action. We hope communities across Colorado will follow Fort Collins’ lead.”
“Fort Collins is committed to pursuing zero emission transportation by 2050, by reducing automobile vehicle miles traveled and promoting EV ownership, which aligns with our 2015 Climate Action Plan Framework’s greenhouse gas emissions reduction goal of carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Amanda Mansfield, City of Fort Collins Transportation Planner.
In 2018, the city created an EV Readiness Roadmap with goals for city government, the private sector, and the community. Some early- and medium-term actions have already been completed. For example, the city has more than 70 EVs in the municipal fleet, out of 1200 vehicles, with the number steadily rising. The city has committed to purchasing EVs for all light-duty vehicle fleet purchases by 2025 in its Municipal Sustainability and Adaptation Plan.
Further, Transfort will be ordering two electric buses in early 2021 thanks to grant funding from Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality and Volkswagen Settlement programs. The electric buses are expected to deploy in 2022. Additionally, the city has purchased a 100% Electric Class 7 Street Sweeper with funds from the Volkswagen Settlement. The city has also accelerated the installation of charging infrastructure by adopting building codes that require developers to design homes and apartment buildings to accommodate EV charging and by overseeing the installation and management of public charging stations for public use. This summer, all public charging stations were replaced with new dual-port ChargePoint stations, thanks to a grant from Charge Ahead Colorado. The city — in partnership with Northern Colorado Clean Cities, the Electrification Coalition, and local car dealerships — has encouraged community members to adopt EVs through EV Group Buy programs, with a goal of 50% of new vehicle sales being electric by 2030.
Local leadership from cities like Fort Collins will be crucial for Colorado to realize its vision of electrifying all vehicles in the state by 2050, as articulated in the 2020 Colorado EV plan.
“Congratulations on this designation,” concluded Matt Frommer, Senior Transportation Associate at SWEEP. “We’re looking forward to working with you in the coming years to realize your clean transportation vision, and to maximize the benefits for people all across the city.”
The GoEV Cities and Counties campaign is a joint effort of SWEEP, CLEER, CoPIRG, Conservation Colorado, and the Sierra Club. The effort modeled is after the Ready For 100 campaign, which has led more than 180 local governments in the U.S. committing themselves to obtaining 100% renewable energy no later than 2050. Refer to the GoEV City policy toolkit: goevcity.org/policy-toolkit.
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About the Southwest Energy Efficiency Project (SWEEP)
The Southwest Energy Efficiency Project is a public interest organization promoting greater energy efficiency in Arizona, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Utah, and Wyoming. For more information, visit swenergy.org.
