The Oregon Department of Energy published a press release celebrating the State reaching the halfway mark to 50,000 electric vehicles (EV) registered by the end of 2020. The press release included statewide electric vehicle registration data which demonstrations that Jackson County is definitely doing its part.

For 2018, Jackson County has a total of 913 EV’s (4.45 percent of total vehicle registrations for the State) which places it in the top 10 for EV registrations per capita. Further data shown from Jackson County figures cross referenced by Electric Utility service areas, specifies that the City of Ashland Electric Utility has a total of 700 EV’s registered within the city limits. This means that Ashland EV registrations make up 76 percent of the total EV registrations in Jackson County.  

While the City offers EV outreach and incentive programs it can’t take all of the credit. The community of Ashland collectively is responding and significantly reducing the use of fossil fuels in Ashland’s local transportation system. Additionally, the City of Ashland participates in the Clean Fuels Program and receives clean fuel credits for EV registrations and for all kWh sales relating to the charging of EV’s. As these credits accumulate, the City will be formulating options for the best utilization of the credits to fund further objectives of its own Climate Energy and Action Plan (CEAP) within the transportation segment of Ashland’s Greenhouse Gas inventory.

The City of Ashland has a workplace EV Charging incentive program launching soon that will hopefully bolster and expand these great EV numbers for the community. More information on the program will be available within the coming weeks. Current EV information can be found at www.ashland.or.us/EV.