(Photo by Sean Gallup/Getty Images)
SALT LAKE CITY – One Utah Transit Authority’s streetcar is now running solely on renewable energy. Officials from UTA and Rocky Mountain Power made the announcement Thursday that the S-Line streetcar on Salt Lake’s east side is now powered by 100% renewable energy.
“This is equivalent of taking hundreds of cars off the road every year,” said Carlton Christensen, Chair of the UTA Board of Trustees.
UTA’s S-line connects Sugarhouse to South Salt Lake running alongside 2100 South.
“This is a great milestone for UTA as we continue our commitment to implementing a more clean energy into our transit network,” Christensen said.
The car is using power coming from Rocky Mountain Power, which UTA says has made a significant investment in solar and wind power.
James Campbell, RMP Director of Innovation and Sustainability, commended UTA for the move and said making transportation clean is a huge piece of solving pollution and climate issues.
“Transportation is our single largest source of criterion pollution here in Utah and along the Wasatch front,” he said. He also says nationally it’s the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions.”
“So really the solution to address this pollution and these climate issues to transition our transportation fleets to electric, like the S- line, and then make sure that that underlying source that’s supplying that electricity is clean or renewable.”
Christensen said the car wasn’t intended to be renewable, but the community it serves is “highly sensitive” to looking at that.
“I think it’s a perfect place to have that be the first line that’s totally renewable energy.”
UTA says they’re looking into eventually extending the S-line further east.