We were honored to get a call last week from
Montana's Governor Brian Schweitzer, who is
working to get Montana and, through the National
Governor's Association, many other states
involved in accelerating commercialization of
PHEVs. Schweitzer is a big fan of plug-in cars in
general, having visited Tesla Motors and having
recently worked to make Montana the first state
to allow neighborhood electric vehicles to go 35
rather than 25 MPH (which makes NEVs far more
practical). For more about the very broad ideas
that come from the governor of a high
coal-producing state, see http://governor.mt.gov/
,read a profile at http://www.nytimes.com/2006/10/08/magazine/08governor.html .

Schweitzer is helping to drive the National
Governors Association's Securing a Clean Energy
Future Initiative. At a recent summit meeting
that included US carmakers, he heard them say
there was no way they could gear up to provide
enough batteries to power more than 30% of US
cars by 2030. The Governor described his
response: at the time of Pearl Harbor, the US had
the world's fifth most powerful military; we went
on to build capacity and win a world war in four
years. Saying that their response was inadequate
to the challenge, he also pointed to CalCars'
conversions as an important starting point.
Schweitzer favors a 15% tax credit (that would
buy down $4,500 of the higher initial cost of a
$30,000 PHEV) and what are called "feed-in
tariffs" to allow the full integration of
distributed solar and wind power with central
utility generation. And he's looking forward to
having his own PHEV as soon as possible.

A year ago, a handful of states were actively
working on promoting PHEVs. The number of
PHEV-focused US states and Canadian provinces
continues to grow: we've reported on projects in
California, Colorado, Delaware, Illinnois,
Manitoba, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, North
Carolina, Pennsylvania, Texas and Washington.
Might it be too much to hope that one state
agency might form a consortium to take the lead
with a proposal for USDOE's new PHEV
demonstration programs we just described at
http://www.calcars.org/calcars-news/896.html ?


Below is a report from The Missoulian about the
Summit, followed by URLs and a press release
about the National Governors' Association inititiative.

Governor outlines energy proposal
Schweitzer wants automakers to retool for electric cars
By ROB CHANEY of the Missoulian
http://www.missoula.com/news/node/981

Gov. Brian Schweitzer wants his car to cook his dinner.

And heat the bath water, power the TV and sell
electricity at a profit on the national grid.

The idea's no more outlandish than America's leap
from depression-wracked isolationism with a
fifth-rate military to world-dominating
superpower in the four years from Pearl Harbor to
V-E Day. What's outlandish, in Schweitzer's
opinion, is the corporate resistance to change that's stalled such ideas.

During a visit to Missoula on Thursday,
Schweitzer said he'd outlined his energy vision
during last month's National Governors
Association summit on alternative transportation
fuels and advanced vehicles in Florida. He wasn't
happy with the response from automakers, who told
him it would take 30 years to adapt present
factories to all-electric car production.

But people outside the auto industry and outside
the United States are already racing ahead on
such vehicles. Whether it's the Toyota Prius or
some venture capitalist's demo engine, Schweitzer
said he's banking on public demand moving away from gasoline-powered cars.

Two pieces of federal legislation would trigger
the revolution. One would be a 15 percent tax
credit on the price of electric cars. The other
would be to turn the national electricity grid
into an open market where any producer could participate.

It's that second part that powers Schweitzer's
idea. It goes like this: Electricity is expensive
during the peak business hours of the day, but
cheap at night. Electric cars are essentially
portable batteries. Car owners can recharge them
any time, day or night. And even current models
can store more energy than the average driver needs for daily travel.

So why not plug cars into the grid at night, when
electricity is cheap, and then use surplus
(non-driving) energy to run home appliances?
Furthermore, how about selling some of that cheap
late-night electricity back to the national grid
during expensive, peak-power times?

As Schweitzer sees it, the biggest challenge
would be the accounting system needed to keep
track of everyone's electrical deposits and
withdrawals. The automotive technology and
electrical power capacity already exists.

A new National Governors Association report cites
figures from the Electric Power Research
Institute Journal's fall 2005 issue, which says
"plug-in hybrids could operate inexpensively (as
low as 75 cents per-gallon equivalent), reduce
oil consumption by 60 percent and cut greenhouse
gas emissions by two-thirds ... compared with traditional vehicles."

While the association's "Call to Action" didn't
include Schweitzer's full vision of home battery
independence, it did argue that the nation's
electricity capacity was up to the task. And it
suggested that the change would likely come from
state initiatives rather than federal action.

Schweitzer sits on the NGA's Clean Energy Future
Task Force with fellow governors Tim Pawlenty
(Minnesota), Kathleen Sebelius (Kansas), Jodi
Rell (Connecticut), Charlie Crist (Florida),
Linda Lingle (Hawaii), Edward Rendell
(Pennsylvania) and Chris Gregorie (Washington).

While the association's report had a couple pages
of ideas for clean-coal technology, Schweitzer
said nothing Thursday about his own campaign to
foster new coal-fired generators in Montana. He
also said nothing about a proposed deal to build
a coal gasification plant in the eastern part of
the state, which has failed to materialize.

Instead, he touted his efforts to add solar
panels to the governor's mansion and his
intention to buy an all-electric, American-built
car as soon as one becomes available. He also
hopes to attract a production facility for wind
turbines to the state. And he's called on state
government agencies to reduce power consumption 20 percent by 2010.


The National Governors Association's "Securing a
Clean Energy Future" report can be found via
www.nga.org/portal/site/nga/menuitem at
http://www.nga.org/Files/pdf/0712SCEFCALLTOACTION.PDF
PHEVs are discussed on page 16 of the report


Governors Call for Improving Alternative Fuels and Clean Vehicles in States
Securing a Clean Energy Future: A Call to Action
News Release 12/13/2007

Governors Convene in Florida as Part of NGA's
Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative, Release 'A Call to Action' Report

WASHINGTON—As part of the National Governors
Associations (NGA) Securing a Clean Energy Future
Initiative (SCEF Initiative), four governors
today joined together in Florida to discuss
advancing alternative fuels and clean vehicles in
the United States, release the first SCEF
Initiative publication "A Call to Action," and
announce a clean energy partnership between NGA and Discovery Communications.

NGA Chair Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty opened the
summit by stating, "America is the world's
leading consumer of petroleum, using more than
7.6 billion barrels of oil a year, of which more
than 60 percent is imported. If we're to wrestle
back control of our own energy future, America
must devote serious attention to increasing
development of alternative fuels and clean
vehicles. As this conference demonstrates, governors are leading the way."

SCEF Task Force Member Florida Gov. Charlie Crist
added, "I am honored to unite with other
governors who are taking action to advance our
nation's use of renewable energy. As we work
together, I am confident that by increasing our
use of ethanol – as well as solar power and wind
energy – we move closer to making clean energy the standard of the day."

At the "Governors' Summit on Alternative
Transportation Fuels and Advanced Vehicles," Gov.
Pawlenty, Gov. Crist, SCEF Initiative Co-Chair
Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius, and SCEF Task
Force Member Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer
highlighted the opportunities and challenges
governors face when developing and using
alternative transportation fuels, infrastructure and vehicles in their states.

"Kansas is making great strides in the
production, consumption, and promotion of
biofuels," said Gov. Sebelius. "I look forward to
working with governors across the country to
reduce our nation's dependence on foreign oil."

At a press conference following their discussion,
the governors released the SCEF Initiative's "A
Call to Action," a report declaring America's
current energy path unacceptable because of
escalating economic risk and serious
environmental consequences. The report compels
the nation's governors to act now to solve America's energy challenges by:

* Defining the current energy problem,
including the depths of our current dependence on oil and other fossil fuels;
* Painting a stark picture of the "business as usual" future;
* Dispelling myths associated with
increasing alternative energy sources, breaking
our oil addiction, meeting surging electricity
demand, and reducing greenhouse gas emissions;
* Describing the integral role states will
play in promoting clean energy; and
* Presenting the SCEF Initiative's roadmap
to a cleaner, more secure energy future for America.

"For too long myths and hearsay have prevented
meaningful action on these issues," said Gov.
Schweitzer. "But governors are taking action. I'm
proud to be here today with my colleagues to
continue our work addressing our nation's shared energy challenges."

The SCEF Initiative is not just about motivating
governors to embrace clean energy policies, but
also about raising awareness of the importance
individual contributions can make in solving
America's energy challenges. Today NGA also
announced a partnership with Discovery
Communications – home to the Discovery Channel,
TLC, Animal Planet and other notable television
programming – to motivate individuals across the
country to embrace clean energy in their everyday
activities. At the summit,Gov. Pawlenty unveiled
the first product of this partnership: a public
service announcement (PSA) that demonstrates
simple actions individuals can take to reduce
their overall energy consumption, and encouraged
his colleagues to do the same. The PSA will begin
airing on Discovery's networks in 2008.

Discovery is a passionate advocate of preserving
our earth and a leader in developing television
programs that educate citizens about the earth's
best qualities. Next year, Discovery's commitment
to these issues will reach new heights when
Discovery Home channel becomes Planet Green – the
first 24-hour eco-lifestyle channel dedicated to
making a difference by providing tools,
information and content that will enlighten,
empower and most importantly, entertain.Gov.
Pawlenty and Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley are
honorary board members of Planet Green.

This is the first of three summits planned by
NGA's SCEF Initiative. The SCEF Initiative is
supported by the U.S. Department of Energy,
Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy
and Office of Energy Deliverability and
Reliability. In 2008, the SCEF Initiative will
convene summits focusing on states' role in
encouraging research, development and deployment
of clean energy technologies and also look at
options to promote clean power generation and
energy efficiency. For more information on the
Securing a Clean Energy Future Initiative, please visit www.nga.org/ci.

Founded in 1908, the National Governors
Association (NGA) is the collective voice of the
nation's governors and one of Washington, D.C.'s
most respected public policy organizations. Its
members are the governors of the 50 states, three
territories and two commonwealths. NGA provides
governors and their senior staff members with
services that range from representing states on
Capitol Hill and before the Administration on key
federal issues to developing and implementing
innovative solutions to public policy challenges
through the NGA Center for Best Practices. For
more information, visit www.nga.org.

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Felix Kramer fkramer@...
Founder California Cars Initiative
http://www.calcars.org
http://www.calcars.org/news-archive.html
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