ComEd Adds Hybrid Bucket Truck to Its Fleet.
Published in: PR Newswire
Date: 5/10/2006
Consumers aren’t the only ones feeling the fuel pinch. Businesses and municipalities with vehicle fleets are developing strategies to deal with rising diesel costs.
ComEd, which operates more than 2,100 diesel-operated vehicles in northern Illinois, is now testing a first-of-its-kind hybrid bucket truck to meet the challenge of higher fuel costs.
The hybrid bucket truck will be one of several alternative-fueled vehicles ComEd will have on display today at the National Summit on Energy and the Environment in Chicago, hosted by the United States Conference of Mayors. Mayors will view the vehicles on display at Soldier Field at 6 p.m.
The average price of diesel fuel has already topped $3 a gallon this year in the Chicago area, compared to about $2.50 a year ago, according to Chicago AAA. ComEd’s fleet managers adjusted their fuel budget upward in January and anticipate additional budget increases in the near future to keep up with rising fuel costs.
ComEd’s hybrid bucket truck is manufactured by Warrenville, Ill.-based International Truck and Engine Corporation and Cleveland, Ohio-based Eaton Corporation. The combination diesel and electric powered trucks are expected to improve fuel economy up to 60 percent compared to diesel-only fueled trucks.
When field personnel operate a diesel-powered bucket truck, the engine must remain on when employees use the bucket. The new hybrid truck allows the operator to shut off the diesel engine and operate the bucket on an electric motor for up to two hours before the engine has come back on to briefly charge the battery.
“As a result, considerably less fuel is burned and greenhouses gas and noise are reduced,” said Pat Pineau, fleet manager for ComEd. “About two-thirds of the fuel savings will result from the engine being shut off at the work site.”
ComEd also is benefiting financially from its use of biodiesel. ComEd has saved an average of four cents a gallon by using biodiesel, compared to the cost of using conventional diesel. The utility operates all of its diesel- powered vehicles with biodiesel and is one of the nation’s largest consumers of the alternative fuel.
Commonwealth Edison Company (ComEd) is a unit of Chicago-based Exelon Corporation , one of the nation’s largest electric utilities with more than $15 billion in revenues and a customer base of more than 5.2 million. ComEd provides service to approximately 3.7 million customers across Northern Illinois, or 70 percent of the state’s population.
CONTACT: John Dewey, ComEd Media Relations, +1-312-394-3500
Web site: https://www.exeloncorp.com/