Utilities eye value of hybrid vehicles
Published in: The Patriot-News
Date: 12/21/2005
By: Joel Berg
Midstate utilities are looking at — and in one case buying — hybrid vehicles that run on a mix of gasoline and electricity.
The main concern for utilities is the same as it is for consumers: Will the greater fuel efficiency of a hybrid vehicle offset its higher price tag? Hybrid models cost several thousand dollars more than their gasoline-powered counterparts.
Nonetheless, sales have risen as more hybrid models become available. As of October, more than 171,000 hybrids had been sold, up from 88,000 in all of 2004, according to www.hybridcars.com, a Web site devoted to the vehicles.
Electric utility PPL Corp. owns 2,000 vehicles, from sedans to line-repair trucks. None are hybrids.
“Right now, we don’t have a use, a business use, with economic benefits that would make it worth our while to have hybrids in our fleet,” said George Lewis, a spokesman for Allentown-based PPL.
However, Lewis said, PPL is keeping tabs on the technology’s development. One research program, for example, is working on a hybrid version of bucket trucks used in repairing power lines. “But it’s not ready yet,” he said.
Another utility has begun testing hybrid vehicles. York Water Co. bought two hybrid Ford Escape SUVs this summer for nearly $27,000 each, said Duane Close, vice president of operations for the York-based water supplier. A standard Escape starts at just under $20,000.
York Water is using the Escapes in a new program to read meters using radio-frequency technology. Meter readers drive by and pick up signals automatically from water meters inside homes.
“We expect to be driving 100 miles a day on average,” Close said.
York Water hopes the hybrids will pay for themselves after five years of use. After that, the company expects to save $8,000 a year in fuel costs, Close said. He made that calculation this summer when gasoline prices were $1.91 a gallon. By late November, gas prices were $2.15.
York Water plans to keep each hybrid for eight years.
One wild card is maintenance costs, Close said. The company has been told the costs might be lower. But, he said, “No one really knows for sure.”
York Water’s meter readers typically drive compact pickup trucks, such as Ford Rangers and Chevy S-10s, Close said. They average about 13 miles per gallon.
The company expects the hybrids to get 30 miles per gallon, Close said. So far, they have averaged about 24 miles.
The problem is that the hybrids are being used to read meters the traditional way, in which drivers have to stop frequently, Close said.
“Those things eat up more fuel than if you’re just constantly driving at a 35-mile-per-hour pace,” Close said.
Only about 10,000 of York Water’s 50,000 customers have the new radio-frequency meters. All customers will have them by early 2007, he said.
“We’re looking to get 30 [miles per gallon] whenever we start using them with planned routes,” Close said.
Another local water company, Pennsylvania-American Water, also has started installing radio-frequency meters. More than 27,000 customers have them, including some in Adams and Cumberland counties.
However, the company isn’t buying hybrid vehicles, said Nancy Sharp, a spokeswoman for the Derry Twp.-based company.
Pennsylvania-American’s service territory is relatively rural. Hybrids wouldn’t operate at peak efficiency in those areas, Sharp said.
“They’re great for traffic, stop-and-go driving,” she said. “Fortunately, or unfortunately, we don’t have a lot of service areas that fit that description.”
A sister company in New Jersey is using two hybrid Ford Escapes, Sharp added.
Radio-frequency meters also are coming to customers of UGI Utilities Inc. Hybrid vehicles are not, at least not yet, said Joseph Swope, a spokesman for the Reading-based distributor of natural gas.
“That’s one of those issues where we’re keeping our options open,” Swope said.