$300,000 in Grants From Duke Energy Will Aid Triangle to Transition to More Electric Buses

CHARLOTTE, N.C., November 15, 2019 /3BL Media/ – A pair of grants totaling $300,000 from Duke Energy Corp. will help two transit agencies in the Triangle area fund electric bus-charging stations that are being incorporated into their fleets.

“We’re pleased our grants can help transit agencies in the Triangle area transition to cleaner bus fleets that help the environment,” said Stephen De May, Duke Energy’s North Carolina president.

Grants were awarded to:

• GoRaleigh – $200,000 to help offset the cost of installing five electric bus-charging stations.
• GoTriangle – $100,000 to help offset the cost of installing two charging stations for two electric buses expected to arrive by the end of the year.

“We greatly appreciate Duke Energy’s investment in our electric-bus efforts,” says Shelley Blake Curran, GoTriangle’s interim CEO and president. “As we improve and increase our services that better connect all points of the Triangle every year, we are excited to be exploring ways to better protect the environment, too.”

GoTriangle operates 69 buses and averages more than 6,000 boardings a day on its routes in Wake, Durham and Orange counties.

At GoRaleigh, the agency has committed to the purchase of five new electric buses and five charging stations. GoRaleigh is converting its diesel fleet to natural gas and electric fueled vehicles, which are cleaner and less expensive to operate during the life of the vehicles. The new electric buses are scheduled for delivery in August and September of 2020.

GoRaleigh is the city of Raleigh’s public transit bus service. It operates 84 buses, serving approximately 17,000 passengers per day, and covers a territory of 144 square miles.

Since 2016, Duke Energy has expanded charging for electric vehicles and buses throughout North Carolina. The program helped fund almost 200 public electric vehicle charging stations in North Carolina. Recently, the company helped the city of Asheville with its charging infrastructure. In 2016, Duke Energy helped the city of Greensboro with transit bus charging.

The Duke Energy funding was part of a 2015 settlement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and environmental groups.

The legacy grant funding is separate from the $76 million Electric Transportation pilot being considered now by the North Carolina Utilities Commission. The current proposal builds upon lessons learned during the earlier program. It will expand municipal and school bus charging infrastructure, as well as expand residential and public charging for passenger vehicles. Read about the current proposal.

About Duke Energy
Duke Energy (NYSE: DUK), a Fortune 150 company headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., is one of the largest energy holding companies in the U.S. It employs 30,000 people and has an electric generating capacity of 51,000 megawatts through its regulated utilities and 3,000 megawatts through its nonregulated Duke Energy Renewables unit.

Duke Energy is transforming its customers’ experience, modernizing the energy grid, generating cleaner energy and expanding natural gas infrastructure to create a smarter energy future for the people and communities it serves. The Electric Utilities and Infrastructure unit’s regulated utilities serve approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio and Kentucky. The Gas Utilities and Infrastructure unit distributes natural gas to more than 1.6 million customers in five states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Ohio and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the U.S., as well as energy storage and microgrid projects.

Duke Energy was named to Fortune’s 2019 “World’s Most Admired Companies” list and Forbes’ 2019 “America’s Best Employers” list. More information about the company is available at duke-energy.com. The Duke Energy News Center contains news releases, fact sheets, photos, videos and other materials. Duke Energy’s illumination features stories about people, innovations, community topics and environmental issues. Follow Duke Energy on Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.

Contact: 
Randy Wheeless
Office: 704.382.8379
24-Hour: 800.559.3853
Twitter: @DE_RandyW