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City tries to salvage BlueIndy electric car share

John Tuohy
john.tuohy@indystar.com
  • More than $13 million sought for charging stations

The cars have sat like museum exhibits on Washington Street in Downtown Indianapolis for months.

Compact, zippy and colorful, they are parked in a row next to a glittery kiosk.

But so far no one has rented the compact electric vehicles, and they are for demonstration only. That's because the much ballyhooed car share service still needs $13 million to get rolling.

The program, which would be the largest in the country, was to be a jewel in the legacy of outgoing Mayor Greg Ballard. Now the questions is: Will it take off at all?

That's been the case since February, when the Indiana Utility Regulatory Commission denied a request by the city to raise electric rates so that Indianapolis Power & Light Co. could pay for 250 charging stations.

The IURC said it was unfair to charge all customers for a service that only a small percentage would use.

It forced the city, IPL and the Bolloré Group, a French conglomerate that owns BlueIndy, to seek funding elsewhere.

David Rosenberg, the mayor's deputy chief of staff, said the entities have been in talks since then about how to get the money, but he wouldn't divulge details.

He did say, however, that the city wouldn't seek money from the City-County Council.

"We have no intention of going to the council," he said.

Councilman Jeff Miller, a backer of BlueIndy, said that was probably a good idea because asking taxpayers to fund the program wasn't much different from asking ratepayers to do so.

"First of all, we don't have $13 million," he said. "And if we did, I could see IndyGo (city bus service) saying, 'Hey, we could use that money.' "

That would appear to limit the options to either IPL or BlueIndy eating the cost or sharing it.

Herve Muller, president of BlueIndy, did not return phone calls seeking comment.

IPL spokeswoman Brandi Davis-Handy said IPL decided not to appeal the IURC ruling and was trying to work something out.

"We accepted the order and have been in constant contact with the the city," she said but declined to characterize the progress.

Ballard said the talks were progressing steadily up to last week.

"We were close," he said. "We had most of the parties together on it."

Then, Ballard said, Gov. Mike Pence signed the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and city officials were overwhelmed with containing the fallout, as companies threatened to boycott the state.

"That's taken all our attention," Ballard said of the law, which opponents say would allow businesses to discriminate against gays, lesbians and same-sex couples.

Ballard said BlueIndy was a perfect example of the type of program that appeals to young, upscale and diverse workers the city is trying to attract. Those residents are also the type to be most upset with the state for passage of the RFRA.

"It threatens what thousands of people have spent 40 years building," Ballard said of job opportunities, cultural attractions and housing choices designed to attract young workers the city has been cultivating.

Still, Rosenberg said, BlueIndy remains "a top priority," and the company has not been dissuaded by RFRA.

"They are aware of it (RFRA), but they know what the mayor is about," Rosenberg said.

Kerwin Olson, executive director of the Citizens Action Coalition, said BlueIndy's apparent unwillingness to throw down the $13 million itself shows that the company doesn't have a sound business plan.

"You know it's a highly risky venture for investors with no promise of success or profit without public funding," said Olson, whose watchdog organization opposed the rate hike.

The Bolloré Group would invest $35 million to provide 1,000 all-electric cars at 250 charging stations. It has a similar service in Paris, but this would be the largest operation of its kind in the United States.

The rental service is intended for people such as students, young professionals and retired workers who don't own cars but need them occasionally to run errands.

The cars would cost $15 an hour to rent, but charges rack up only during the time the car is driven. Once it is parked and plugged into a charger, the meter stops.

When the program was announced in summer 2013, the company predicted a roll-out in spring 2014. But the request for an electrical rate hike of 28 cents a month per customer set the timetable back.

As a result, the five cars on Washington Street and their charging stations have been raring to go for at least six months.

Davis-Handy said the rate hike would allow the utility to expand its electric car services. IPL has 188 charging stations around the city, with 26 dedicated to the city's fleet of hybrid and electric vehicles.

Olson said he supports the car share program but not the way the city wanted to fund it.

Miller, the councilman, said the car service is "important for the city on multiple levels."

"This is the last piece of a full public transportation plan," he said. "Sometimes a bus isn't enough. This allows people without a car to do things they couldn't on the bus.

"It's an amazing plan, but it's going to take some negotiations to get it done."

Call Star reporter John Tuohy at (317) 444-6418. Follow him on Twitter: @john_tuohy.