ELECTRIC VEHICLE CHARGING STATIONS
Thanks to a grant awarded to IES, you can now charge your electric vehicle in the City of Worcester! The 10 installed systems are Coulomb Stations and were awarded through a grant from the Patrick/Murray administration; they are among the 150 that are now installed state-wide. This is part of an ongoing effort by the Patrick/Murray administration to make Electric Vehicles a viable and clean transportation alternative across the Commonwealth. On April 2, 2012 at Clark University, IES hosted over 130 guests, including Congressman Jim McGovern, Secretary of Energy & Environmental Affairs Richard Sullivan, Commissioner of MA Department of Energy Resources, Mark Silvia and IES Board of Directors Chair and Clark University President David Angel to officially unveil two of the 10 charge stations in the City of Worcester. Guests were joined that day by more than a dozen electric vehicles, like the Nissan Leaf, Chevy Volt and BMW Active-E to demonstrate the technology and its benefits.
Congressman Jim McGovern said “I’m pleased we are able to count Worcester and Metro-west Massachusetts as committed early adopters in the clean transportation movement. We must continue to aggressively target clean technology and transportation opportunities on a local level; not just for our own fiscal and environmental health, but to inspire Congress — and the rest of the country — to follow suit.” Project partners included; Town of Lancaster, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Clark University, Quinsigamond Community College and National Grid. The charge stations are located on the campus of Clark University, WPI, QCC, and in the municipal garages at Union Station and City hall. Stop by and charge up!!
Check out what the local news has to say about the charging stations:
Car Charging Stations Plug Into Worcester, April 4,2012: Worcester Magazine
Electric Vehicle Charging Stations Unveiled at Clark, April 3, 2012: Worcester Business Journal
Worcester Gets Plug-in Spots For Hybrids, April 3, 2012: Telegram and Gazette
Why Electric Vehicles Are So Important To The United States, August 18, 2011: MA High Tech Journal
Electric Car Charging Stations Coming to Worcester, August 3, 2011: Worcester Magazine
Find a Station near you with Charge Point!
HUD COMMUNITY CHALLENGE PLANNING GRANT
The mission of the Office of Sustainable Housing and Communities is “to create strong, sustainable communities by connecting housing to jobs, fostering local innovation, and helping to build a clean energy economy.”
Under the leadership of the City of Worcester, IES is partnering with the Community Builders and the Main South Community Development Corporation on the Main South to Loomworks Revitalization project. The plan’s goal is to create an affordable, economically viable and sustainable community through the creation of affordable housing, the reuse of older industrial buildings and vacant land for new purposes, coordination of brownsfields remediation, and planning for better connectivity to job centers and adjacent neighborhoods.
Through increased community participation and decision-making, this project seeks to improve economic development by increasing availability of affordable housing, developing vacant and underused lands, improving connections to jobs and amenities and to improve connectivity to assets and transit. These initiatives will transform the Worcester region into a more equitable, environmentally sound and economically healthy community.
HUD Office of Sustainable Communities News & Events
Department of Housing and Urban Development: Office of Sustainable Communities
Metropolis Mag: HUD Grant Shows Post-Partisan Promise
City Limits: Obama’s Urban Policy
HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan: Planning Regionally will help Fresno Housing Market Rebound
HUD’s Shelley Poticha Discusses Sustainability Planning: Builder Magazine
** HUD Announces Preferred Sustainability Status for IES along with 2010 Grantees **
DC Street Blog: $100 Sustainable Communities Program Survives This Year’s Budget
