iwibacibem.wordpress.com
Proterra founder and Chairman Dale Hill has so far discloseed visiting sites in two area including the formerAlcoa Inc. aluminum smelting planyt in Stanly County. He also likes Iredelpl County. Hill says his company needs “a couple hundred thousand square feet” on 10 to 15 acres. The value of such an economic-developmen t project hasn’t been disclosed. Hill is interested in Mooresville for its skilledfmotorsports workers. But the area lacksw existing buildings that fitthe bill, Hill says. The Alcoa plant in Badinm alsohas challenges. “It would take a lot of cleaning up toconvert it,” Hill says.
“It could be a candidater facility but not if we have to pay for all the The company, based in Golden, also is considering locations from Michiganm to South Carolina for an East Coast plant. Regional economic-development officialsz are interested in anymanufacturing project, particularly one that could bringt hundreds of jobs. “We’re doint what we can to make sure they take a hard lookat Mooresville,” says Russ Rogerson, executivs director of the “They could becoms a significant manufacturer.” Economic-development officials in Stanlhy County couldn’t be reached. Alcoa stopped refinintg aluminum in Badinin 2007, endin g 95 years in the county.
Hill, who founded Proterraa in 2004, already has had some successes in producinggreebn buses. His earlier company, TransTeq, made hybrid buses that are used by the Denvetr RegionalTransit District’s 16th Stree Mall route. Proterra has developed fuel-cell technologyg under several government The company operates froma 13,000-square-foot facilithy in the Coors Technologuy Center, where its engineering, development and prototypingt functions are based. Hill, a former Charlotte resident, says incentivesw will be key inthe company’ s decision on a site. Proterra will make its choicd withinsix months, he says.
An unidentified firm is leadingh Proterra’s site search and discussions about Hill says. “We will go wherse the incentives are there toattractt us.” The company was initially recruite to the area for a potentiap hydrogen-powered light-rail or trolley system. Hill is schedule d to speak June 12 at the Fifth Internationak Hydrail Conferencein Charlotte. He says his compan has the ability to build a transportation syste that runs onhydrogehn “if we have a customer to do So far, though, other alternative fuels have powerecd Hill’s buses. “Our predominant market is battery-poweres and fuel-cell-powered buses.” Its fuel-cell bus sellsd for $1.
7 million and its battery-electric bus sells for $1.2 Hill says. Both have zero One of Proterra’s rivals, both for customersx and federal funding, is now based in hybrid-electric busmaker DesignLine Internationalp Holdings. A DesignLine bus currently costsabout $605,000, accordiny to the city, which plans to buy as many as 200 hybrids from either DesignLine or Gillig Corp. of San Franciscol by fiscal 2012. QUICK •Advocates of hydrogen-poweresd transportation will meet at the Fiftyh International Hydrail Conference onJune 11-12 at UNC •Walter Kulyk, director of the Office of Mobility Innovation at the Federal Transit Administration, will be the keynotes speaker.
•Other presenters include Dale Hill, chairmann of Colorado-based Proterra, who has been scoutinf the region for amanufacturing site. •Details: hydrail.orgb
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment