Drive Clean Colorado is happy to highlight our collaboration with Commerce City in this Stakeholder Spotlight. We met with Senior Environmental Planner, Libby Tart and Sustainability Associate, Olivia Quagliani to discuss how Commerce City is driving electric vehicle adoption and infrastructure. Libby and Olivia are part of the E3 Division, which is a department that focuses on Energy, Equity, and Environment (E3) by implementing projects in the city’s sustainability plan.  

*These responses are summarized from an interview with Libby Tart and Olivia Quagliani. 

What is your role in the E3 Division at Commerce City? 

Olivia: On a day-to-day basis, I build educational programs based on our ten priority areas. This includes lunch and learn events, movies, and monthly sustainability challenges that residents can participate in. We have some exciting programs coming up later this year! I also work on a variety of other projects related to our Sustainability Action Plan. 

Libby: We are a fairly new division in the city, and as Olivia said, we are involved in a little bit of everything. Part of my role here is to evaluate land use plans that come into the city. I reinforce our land use code, so developers know if they are missing an RTD transportation route here or EV parking spaces and bike racks there.  

How is your organization working to improve electrification efforts and accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles? 

Olivia: One of our city goals is to have 30% electric vehicles on the road by 2030 and reach 75% by 2050. So, it’s very important for us to have the infrastructure in place. We have installed charging stations at our Civic Center, two recreation centers, and our municipal service building. When people have reliable places to charge, they are incentivized to drive electric vehicles.  

Libby: We are beginning the process of adopting the International Energy Conservation Code (IECC) this year. We are excited that it will lead to more EV infrastructure and support multifamily unit, commercial, and institutional partners. I have been a fierce advocate for more charging infrastructure, especially since getting an EV in May and recognizing a lot of our city management staff and city clerk staff drive EVs.  

Olivia: We are also part of the Watts@Work program with Drive Clean Colorado, which is helping us with installing workplace charging stations. We are having an event in March, where DCC will come to speak to our employees and host a ride-and-drive where our staff can test drive an EV.  

Could you discuss the Charging Smart program and why you are a part of it? 

Libby: It’s really phenomenal to partner with an organization like Drive Clean Colorado that has so many resources and opportunities for a small division like ours. Drive Clean Colorado has put so much in motion through the Charging Smart program. We are part of the founding cohort of Charging Smart with a variety of other local governments that want to make their cities more EV-ready. Knowing that we are a part of this broader program makes it more compelling to contribute and improve the EV-readiness of Commerce City. At the heart of this work, we aim to improve air quality and address some of the concerns that we have at a public health level for our community. We are happy to be part of the Charging Smart cohort of municipalities, and we are excited to improve our EV readiness as a city and obtain the certification. 

Where can people connect with you? 

Olivia: People can learn more about us on the E3 Division webpage, and sign up for our connected newsletter to stay up to date. They can also connect with us on LinkedIn and Instagram. We’re in the process of planning an Earth Day and ride-and-drive event with Adams County municipalities and DCC. The event will be April 26 from 10:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. at the Bison Ridge Recreation Center.  

“It’s really phenomenal to partner with an organization like Drive Clean Colorado that has so many resources and opportunities for a small division like ours.” – Libby Tart

For more details on the Earth Day event and other upcoming events, check out the Drive Clean Colorado events page.