Scott Powers
Orlando and seven other cities announced Thursday they are launching an initiative called the Energy Secure Cities Coalition and dedicating to change municipal vehicles to alternative fuels.
West Palm Beach also is among the charter cities in the group, which was organized by the organizations Securing America’s Future Energy (SAFE) and the Electrification Coalition.
“The City of Orlando is committed to taking the steps necessary to preserve our natural resources for our children and future generations to come,” Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer stated in a news release. “That’s why we pledged to run City fleet vehicles on 100 percent renewable resources by 2030 as part of our Green Works Orlando sustainability initiative and we are proud to join with other cities in this effort as part of the national Energy Secure Cities Coalition.”
Orlando has 1,689 advanced fuel vehicles currently in its fleet and plans to increase to a total of 2,389 by 2030, including compressed natural gas, hydraulic-hybrid and hybrid-electric vehicles. The city’s first CNG fueling station also began operation this year.
The cities in the coalition plan to share best practices for fleet conversion. In addition to Orlando and West Palm Beach, the cities include Atlanta; Charlotte, North Carolina; Indianapolis, Rochester, New York; Sacramento, California; and San Diego.
“With 92 percent of our transportation sector powered by a single fuel—oil—our local economies are dangerously exposed to a volatile, unpredictable global oil market,” SAFE President and CEO Robbie Diamond stated in the news release.
