Our Daily Show Interview! Ameren IL: Alton City Grant, and More Free Programs
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ALTON - Ameren has provided the City of Alton with a major grant that aims to increase electric vehicle use in the city.
The $75,000 grant will lead to either more electric vehicle charging stations installed in Alton, or the city will transition to electric vehicles for their police and public works vehicles. This is part of a community engagement and consultation program that allows Ameren and Alton to analyze the best use of electric vehicles in the city.
“We create this plan in collaboration with the city to create goals on transitioning into electric vehicles,” explained Mark Minden, Beneficial Electrification Executive. “This is a part of our beneficial electrification package that really tries to incentivize people in the state of Illinois to transition to electric vehicles. What this program does is create a comprehensive electrification transportation plan for a community at the top level.”
Minden noted that Ameren focuses on developing these plans in partnership with “equity investment-eligible communities,” including low-income areas, regions zoned R3, or environmental justice predesignated areas. Eighty communities in the Ameren Illinois territory currently have strategic plans, and 38 of these communities received funding, including Alton.
Ameren has worked closely with city management, including Andi Campbell, Deputy Director of Planning and Development. Minden explained that Ameren and Alton have looked at Alton’s long-term goals and analyzed electric vehicle use in the region to develop a plan for the city.
“[Alton] learned about the opportunities and the potential funding and realized that having a written plan could really align with the rest of their strategic planning for the city,” Minden said. “It’s something we can build on. It’s an evergreen plan. It’s a draft, something that pulls in all the education and resources together.”
Ameren has an additional program that aims to support organizations and businesses that have one or more fleet vehicles. The company will work with these groups to analyze the costs of using electric vehicles versus gas vehicles. Their aim is to help these organizations decide what is best for them.
“Data is the new currency of the world, so what we do is provide a comprehensive database analysis,” Minden said. “We do this over a five-, ten-, 15-, 20-year horizon, where we compare a gas vehicle to a likewise model of an electric vehicle, so they can look at that and make a decision.”
Ultimately, Alton will either decide to install more electric vehicle charging stations or transition the city vehicles into electric vehicles using the $75,000 grant from Ameren. Ameren hopes to help the city make this decision by analyzing data and showing city management the different ways in which this data aligns with their goals.
As Alton considers this information, Minden reminds other communities that Ameren Illinois has programs that can benefit them. For more information about Ameren and their initiatives, visit their official website.
“We’re really community-focused, and we think that driving from the community top-down works while at the same time reaching out to the residents about the programs and the businesses,” Minden added. “Really, it’s about empowering people with the right sort of information to make those decisions.”
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