Lee Grannis Inducted into Clean Cities Hall of Fame

U.S. Department of Energy Honors Connecticut Leader for Success in Reducing Petroleum Use in Transportation

Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition Coordinator Lee Grannis Inducted into Clean Cities Hall of Fame

Left to right: Dennis Smith, Lee Grannis, Linda Bluestein.
Lee receives honor of being in the Clean Cities Hall of Fame.

ESTES PARK, Colo. – The U.S. Department of Energy honored Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition Coordinator Lee Grannis for his dedication and outstanding accomplishments in reducing Connecticut’s dependence on petroleum in transportation. DOE’s National Clean Cities Director Dennis Smith inducted Grannis into the Clean Cities Hall of Fame on Sept. 26 while in Estes Park, Colo., where representatives from nearly 100 Clean Cities coalitions across the country gathered for a transportation technology deployment workshop.

Grannis launched the New Haven Clean Cities Coalition in 1995 and took the helm as coordinator in 1997, a position he has held ever since. In 2011 alone, the coalition saved more than 2.2 million gallons of petroleum and averted more than 20,000 tons of greenhouse gas emissions through the deployment of alternative and renewable fuels, advanced vehicles, idle reduction and fuel economy improvements.

“Lee Grannis combines unwavering dedication and keen technical knowledge to successfully deploy alternative fuels and advanced vehicles in Connecticut,” National Clean Cities Director Dennis Smith said. “Thanks to Lee’s ingenuity, persistence and willingness to help others, the Constitution State and surrounding region are realizing tangible energy security and environmental benefits.”

Before his work with New Haven Clean Cities, Grannis served 23 years in the U.S. Army, where his duties included multiple infantry combat assignments, combat and operational logistics planning positions, troop movement and exercise planning, all involving multiple modes of transportation. After retiring from the Army, Grannis worked in alternative fuel vehicle sales at Stevens Ford.

“I really enjoy working with new technologies and solving problems that nobody’s tackled before,” Grannis said. “And I like collaborating with all the people in our area who are taking on meaningful transportation projects rather than accepting the status quo.”

For more than a decade, Grannis has been instrumental in introducing new technologies and fuels into Connecticut’s transportation sector. He has developed projects and obtained funding for deployment of compressed natural gas (CNG), liquefied natural gas (LNG), light-duty electric vehicles, electric transit, hydrogen hybrid vehicles and biodiesel.

Under Grannis’ leadership, the Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition helped deploy electric trolleys in New Haven’s public transit system, incorporate electric pick-up trucks into the city fleet, and catalyze the development of the city’s first CNG fueling station. He has also aided entrepreneurs in jump-starting the manufacture of electric buses and electric vehicle charging equipment.

In partnership with the three other Clean Cities coalitions in Connecticut and 27 additional partners, Grannis serves as the lead on the $29 million Connecticut Future Fuels project, which is deploying 269 alternative fuel vehicles. The project is also supporting development of fueling infrastructure, including the first liquefied natural gas (LNG) station east of the Mississippi. Located in Bridgeport, the station fuels more than eighteen LNG tractor trailers for Enviro Express, which provides solid waste collection services in southwestern Connecticut. The Class 8 trucks make daily trips along Interstates 95 and 395 to a landfill in Putnam. Cumberland Farms recently purchased three dozen LNG trucks, many of which will also use the new station as the first non-grant supported fleet.

The Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition is a designated member of the U.S. Department of Energy’s Clean Cities initiative. Clean Cities advances the nation’s economic, environmental and energy security by supporting local actions to reduce petroleum use in transportation. A national network of nearly 100 Clean Cities coalitions brings together stakeholders in the public and private sectors to deploy alternative and renewable fuels, idle-reduction measures, fuel economy improvements and emerging transportation technologies. For more information, visit www.cleancities.energy.gov and www.eere.energy.gov/cleancities/hall_of_fame.html.

Greater New Haven Clean Cities Coalition works with vehicle fleets, fuel providers, community leaders and other stakeholders to reduce petroleum use in transportation in the New Haven area. For more information, visit www.nhcleancities.org.