The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, in partnership with Progress Energy Florida, has installed a public electric vehicle charging station at TBRPC's Pinellas Park offices.. TBRPC is a partner in the Get Ready Tampa Bay initiative, a regional collaboration between the Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council, local governments, electric utility companies, the business community, and other interested groups to ensure Tampa Bay is ready for the roll-out of plug-in electric vehicles.

The charging station at TBRPC is the first of 50 that Progress Energy plans to install within its Florida service territory by the spring of 2012. Plans to install units at shopping malls, municipal buildings and universities are in development, but have not yet been finalized. Progress Energy will collect data from the charging stations to better understand how customers will charge electric vehicles and the impact of charging on the electric system.

The charging station was unveiled in a brief ceremony on December 12th, 2011 following the Council's monthly meeting. Plant City Vice Mayor Bill Dodson, TBRPC Chari, made remarks highlighting the importance of electric vehicle technology and the car charging infrastructure. Representatvies from Progress Energy were on hand to demonstrate how the charging station works, and to show three of their Chevy Volt plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Enterprise Rent-a-Car also brought a Nissan Leaf PEV for event attendees to view.

The Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council is located at 4000 Gateway Centre Blvd. Suite 100, Pinellas Park, FL.

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