For decades, the United States has been working to move past its dependence on fossil fuels. This article highlights the efforts made on the state level to help promote cleaner transportation and how Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition is furthering these initiatives in our region.

As electric vehicle (EV) ownership becomes more prevalent, access to affordable EV charging will be increasingly important. Through a 2018 grant from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), the Energy Production and Infrastructure Center (EPIC) at UNC Charlotte partnered with the City of Charlotte, Duke Energy and Centralina Clean Fuels Coalition (CCFC), a DOE program housed at Centralina Regional Council, to investigate solutions to this issue. The grant provided funding to develop a prototype technology designed to tap into existing streetlight infrastructure for curbside EV charging, lowering installation costs for curbside EV chargers compared to chargers that require the installation of new electrical infrastructure. EPIC collaborated with Duke Energy to develop a prototype for a pole-mounted EV charger, called PoleVolt, and deployed two pilot chargers in the City of Charlotte.

The month of April is National Fair Housing Month and National County Government Month. There is no better time than now to celebrate Union County and its initiatives to further fair and affordable housing in their jurisdiction! 

Have you ever stopped to consider where you’ll be at age 85? Centralina Area Agency on Aging (AAA) staff often ask this question in aging and disability sensitivity training to encourage participants to think about the aging experience. The aging population is growing in the U.S. and by 2040, about one in five Americans will be age 65. Centralina Area Agency on Aging, in an effort to help increase awareness of the challenges this demographic will face, began offering aging and disability sensitivity training.

The greater Charlotte region is nearing three million residents and is expected to add over one million more by 2045. To meet growing transportation challenges, Centralina adopted CONNECT Beyond’s regional mobility plan in October 2021. We want to acknowledge the one-year milestone and recognize all the work being done in the region to implement and move forward the plan’s recommendations. 

As individuals age and develop chronic medical conditions, they are less likely to sense and respond to changes in temperature, and they may also be taking medications that can worsen the impact of extreme heat. Operation Fan Heat Relief helps vulnerable adults at risk for heat-related illnesses stay safe during the summer. Individuals who are 60 and older, as well as adults with disabilities, are eligible to sign up for assistance.

Land use planning provides an opportunity to integrate land use practices with other local priorities, such as transportation connectivity, healthy living, infrastructure investment and economic development. However, developing a land use plan is a significant undertaking that requires extensive research, data analysis, community engagement and plan design to provide the community with an effective tool to guide future decisions.

From 2020 to 2022, Centralina Regional Council supported the City of Albemarle’s Council, Administration and staff in developing a three-year Strategic Plan. The Strategic Planning process was a natural next step in the City of Albemarle’s organizational growth and development. City Manager Michael Ferris commented that, “The City of Albemarle is a complex operation and like any governmental unit we have more needs than we can address at once.”

The onset of the COVID-19 created a shift in employment causing record-high job losses across the nation. However, now that the world has returned to normal operations, employers have reported difficulty finding the workers they need to fill open positions. Centralina Workforce Development Board and our NCWorks team worked together to help provide a solution.