PITTSBURGH, PA (November 11, 2021) As the market and demand for electric vehicles (EVs) grows, the Office of Mayor William Peduto and Department of City Planning Sustainability and Resilience Division are introducing an EV Readiness Ordinance to City Council next week as a commitment to meeting the current and anticipated demand for EVs throughout the City. This ordinance was developed with technical assistance from the Electrification Coalition through Pittsburgh’s participation in the American Cities Climate Challenge.
The City is dedicated to addressing the threat of climate change and improving air quality by implementing more sustainable practices across Pittsburgh. The EV Charging Strategic Plan for Pittsburgh Public Facilities, which was developed in 2020, aims to increase the total number of new public charging plugs to more than 200 on City property and more than 2,000 total across the city by 2025. The City is also working towards the goal of operating a fossil-fuel-free fleet by 2030.
In 2019, an Intradepartmental EV Task Force was formed to manage fleet and public charging infrastructure projects, plan for public charging and find supplemental funding. The task force includes designated staff from the Sustainability and Resilience Division, Office of Management and Budget, Fleet Services, Public Parking Authority of Pittsburgh (PPA), Department of Permits Licensing and Inspections and the Department of Public Works.
Since 2016, the City has received more than $1.1 million in grant funding, which has supplemented the conversion of the City fleet to electric, with a new publicly accessible DC fast charging project in East Liberty in the planning stages. The City currently operates the largest EV fleet in Western PA with 26 EVs and plans to incorporate 36 more. In 2022, the City will begin to convert pickups, vans and refuse trucks to electric.
"Our region is emerging as a leader in clean energy and sustainability and as we work towards our climate action goals, we need to ready our City facilities to provide our fleet as well as the public with opportunities to charge electric vehicles," said Mayor Peduto. "Providing electric vehicle charging stations at city facilities, and with partners citywide, will allow our residents to join us in improving our air quality and reducing emissions."
With the EV Readiness Ordinance, new and renovated City-owned facilities will now have electrical capacity and equipment installed simultaneously with construction to develop the necessary infrastructure to support both the City fleet's EVs and encourage public charging on City property. Laying the infrastructure at the time of construction creates efficiency and significantly reduces costs overall. The EV Task Force will decide on the installation of level 2 and DC Fast Charging stations to meet the City’s needs and ensure that all upgrades to City facilities incorporate make-ready infrastructure to accommodate EV chargers.
About the Electrification Coalition
The Electrification Coalition is a national non-profit focused on scaling and implementing a broad set of strategies to drive widespread adoption of electric vehicles. These strategies include policy development, advocacy campaigns, consumer education, fleet electrification, cultivation of bipartisan support, community electrification planning, EV supply chain development, and coalition building.
