Thiel: City launches electric vehicle challenge

Jackie Kozak Thiel 4:02 a.m. MDT July 20, 2016

Jackie Kozak Thiel(Photo: Courtesy of the city of Fort Collins)

Innovation is a principal driver of economic activity in Fort Collins.

The Smithsonian Institute recognized this fact by naming Fort Collins the community of the future as part of its national "Places of Invention" exhibit. We've also been on the world stage for the number of patents per capita largely because of our technology, bioscience and clean energy companies.

That entrepreneurial spirit is also what's going to help the community reach its climate action goals to reduce carbon emissions 20 percent below 2005 levels by 2020, and 80 percent by 2030 with a goal of being carbon neutral by 2050.

These goals will be reached with everyone working together, which is why the city is looking for partners.

We see the city as a platform to test, deploy and scale up innovation, so we want community organizations and the private sector to help us find competitive grants, access to outside capital and innovative approaches that reduce greenhouse gas emissions in four areas: adding renewables on the grid; improving energy efficiency; increasing recycling; and encouraging pedestrian, bicycle and bus use. Ultimately, we hope to identify pilot projects and expand workforce opportunities that will help us reach our goals while making Fort Collins an even better place to live, work and play.

Just this month, the city and Innosphere announced a new electric vehicle challenge. The finalists will present at CSU's 21st Century Energy Transition Symposium on Sept. 28-29. The Innovate Fort Collins competition seeks proposals to understand and quantify actual electric vehicle charging patterns in Fort Collins. This will help us manage our core utility distribution system while making progress toward a carbon-neutral city.

Here's the problem to be solved: If a lot more people buy electric vehicles, the pressure on charging loads could affect the reliability of the electric grid. Right now, the city is just assuming a worst-case scenario: that everyone will charge their vehicles at home at 5 p.m. every day. But there is emerging evidence that actual charging patterns are significantly more diverse. The objective of the competition is to quantify the scheduling, location and electric loads of electric vehicles currently running on the Fort Collins grid distribution system.

Innovate Fort Collins is specifically designed to help innovators bring relevant technologies to market that will help the community meet its climate action goals.

To sign up for the competition, go to www.innovatefortcollins.com. Registration is now open for the CSU symposium at www.energytransition.colostate.edu. For more information about the city's Climate Action Plan, go to www.fcgov.com/climateaction.

Jackie Kozak Thiel is the chief sustainability officer for the city of Fort Collins. She can be reached at 970-416-2170 or jkozak-thiel@fcgov.com.

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