In an attempt to wean state vehicles off of gasoline and taper foreign oil consumption, the McDonnell administration plans to solicit proposals as early as next week to transition the state's 4,000-vehicle central fleet to alternative fuels.
It's a move that could cut costly gas bills and greatly expand infrastructure statewide to support alternative-fuel vehicles, including electric-vehicle charging stations.
"We just want to put the private sector to work on it and really empower them to get together and bring us ideas and proposals for how we might do this," said Maureen Matsen, deputy secretary of natural resources and Gov. Bob McDonnell's senior adviser on energy.
McDonnell this morning plans to ceremonially sign two bills that took effect July 1 that promote the use of alternative-fuel vehicles. He also will sign an executive order establishing a plan to replace the fleet with alternative-fuel cars.
He wants a recommendation from his staff by May on the best available path to transition the fleet and whether that can be efficiently accomplished through a public-private partnership.
Virginia currently has 158 alternative-fueling stations, according to the nonprofit Virginia Clean Cities, including electric-charging stations at the Science Museum of Virginia and Virginia Commonwealth University.
Alleyn Harned, program coordinator for Virginia Clean Cities, said the governor's initiative could go a long way toward helping drivers interested in alternative-fuel vehicles embrace a change from gasoline to another type of fuel, such as natural gas, ethanol or biodiesel.
In addition to the cost of the vehicles, some drivers have concerns that there are not yet enough places to fuel up on a commute.
"The state can advance public electric or natural gas infrastructure," Harned said. "If we can beat the infrastructure challenges, people, I would say, would be interested in those opportunities."
Proposals submitted to the state to transform its central fleet, which services about 175 agencies and institutions and cost the state $4.2 million in motor fuel in fiscal year 2011, could target certain regions or segments of government.
Some of the larger state agencies manage their own vehicle fleets, such as the Virginia State Police and the Virginia Department of Motor Vehicles, and it may not be practical for those agencies to make the switch.
Pitches could also include the fleet of a locality or business, a potentially attractive feature for local governments already moving in that direction. Richmond city trash trucks, for example, run on compressed natural gas.
"If we can leverage the private sector's interest in expanding these markets," Matsen said, "we may be able to be tremendously successful in this."
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