Serving the High Plains
Serving the High Plains
The New Mexico Environment Department announced it has submitted applications for federal grants to establish three heavy-duty charging stations and mobile hydrogen refueling stations for long-haul freight along the Interstate 40 corridor, including in Tucumcari.
The approximately $250 million requested in the grant applications to the U.S. Environmental Projection Agency would be part of the Zero40 corridor, with additional charging stations in the Gallup area and one in Bernalillo and Sandoval counties.
The Tucumcari site will offer clean transportation refueling at the North American Wind Research and Training Center at Mesalands Community College.
The state agency in February held a climate-action engagement hearing at Mesalands in February to discuss the possible renewable energy hub in Tucumcari.
Other cities listed as committed or potential refueling stops for the Zero40 corridor are Kingman and Winslow in Arizona, Amarillo in Texas and Elk City, Oklahoma City and Checotah in Oklahoma.
New Mexico’s grant applications are part of a larger $577 million proposal that focus on decarbonization of medium and heavy-duty vehicles, including semi-trucks and buses, on I-40.
Transportation decarbonization projects already are underway at the Port of Los Angeles, with Zero40 installing infrastructure to connect to points eastward.
Zero40 is projected to create 3,800 direct and indirect jobs — with a focus on low-income and underserved communities — and reduce cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by over 1.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through 2050.
“If funded, New Mexico will build the necessary transportation infrastructure for local tourism and regional commerce while reducing carbon emissions and other air pollutants one mile at a time,” New Mexico Environment Secretary James Kenney stated in a news release.
The state also requested federal funding for two state programs: the Clean Truck Incentive Program and the Efficient and Clean Operations for Schools – or ECO Schools – Program.
The Clean Truck Inventive Program aims to complement New Mexico’s Advanced Clean Trucks Rules adopted by the state last year as well as new EPA rules for heavy-duty vehicles by providing point-of-sale vouchers to fleet owners.
The Clean Truck Incentive Program also will provide funds for charging or fueling infrastructure stations that may qualify for clean fuel credits under New Mexico’s new Clean Transportation Fuels Standard.
The ECO Schools Program aims to provide funds for electric school buses and charging plugs for schools that serve low-income students and households.
ECO Schools also would provide funding for project assistance so awardees of projects are able to stack benefits from the program with existing renewable energy and efficiency cost-saving opportunities.
NMED estimates the Clean Truck Incentive Program would create an estimated 280 direct and indirect jobs.
ECO Schools would create an estimated 521 direct and indirect jobs.
Collectively, the Clean Truck Incentive Program and ECO Schools are projected to reduce cumulative greenhouse gas emissions by 500,000 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent through 2050 and save New Mexicans over $8 million in health costs from air pollution.