North Carolina city system receives grant from Duke Energy for electric bus charging stations

North Carolina’s Asheville Redefines Transit (ART) system received Tuesday a $200,000 grant from Duke Energy to fund five electric bus-charging stations that were installed by the city earlier this year.

“Asheville is making great strides to add electric buses to its fleet,” Lang Reynolds, director of Electrification Strategy for Duke Energy, said. “Charging infrastructure is a critical component of this effort, and Duke Energy is pleased our grant can assist.”

Duke Energy has helped fund almost 200 public electric vehicle charging stations in North Carolina since 2016.

“The City of Asheville is extremely grateful to Duke Energy to receive funding from its electric charging grant program. This funding is key to helping us run electric buses as part of our overall fleet and help us meet our sustainability goals,” Jessica Morriss, assistant director of Transportation for the City of Asheville, said.

The ART currently operates 17 vehicles in its fleet.

The funding is separate from the $76 million Electric Transportation pilot being considered now by the North Carolina Utilities Commission. That program would expand municipal and school bus charging infrastructure, as well as residential and public charging for passenger vehicles.

Duke Energy, headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., serves approximately 7.7 million retail electric customers in six states – North Carolina, South Carolina, Florida, Indiana, Ohio, and Kentucky. The Duke Energy Renewables unit operates wind and solar generation facilities across the United States, as well as energy storage and microgrid projects.