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Lancaster Installs Demand-Charge Station for Vehicles

Lancaster has partnered with a Santa Clara company to install an energy-storage system and electric-vehicle charging station as part of its plan to become the nation’s first city that produces as much power as it consumes. The $140,000 storage system at the Lancaster Museum of Art & History will be used during peak hours when demand-charge pricing, which allows utilities to price electricity at higher rates, goes into effect. The system, built by Green Charge Networks in Santa Clara, is said to cut demand charges by up to 50 percent. Much of the cost of the system was funded by a California Energy Commission grant with the remainder paid for by the city. Lancaster adopted a goal of being a “net-zero” city in 2011, which will require it to generate power through renewable sources. The city already has installed solar panels at City Hall, the city-owned minor league baseball stadium and other locations. Also, all new homes must have roof-top solar panels. Mayor R. Rex Parris said the storage system and electric vehicle charging station are more examples of how Lancaster adopts cutting-edge technologies. “It is great to see these technologies installed and operational right here in the heart of our downtown,” Parris said in a prepared statement. The charging station in the museum’s parking lot can charge an electric vehicle to 80 percent capacity in 30 minutes. This is the eighth charging station in the city, with the others at City Hall and the Metrolink station parking lot.

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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