Five New CEOs Join Electrification Coalition

WASHINGTON, Oct. 26 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Electrification Coalition (EC)—a nonpartisan, not-for-profit group of business leaders representing the entire value chain of the electric vehicle industry—today announced the addition of five new members: Alexander M. Cutler, Chairman and CEO of Eaton Corporation; Charles Gassenheimer, Chairman and CEO of Ener1, Inc.; Jim Piro, President and CEO of Portland General Electric; Mike Segal, Chairman and CEO of LS Power Group; Eric Spiegel, President and CEO of Siemens Corporation

"We are proud to add these five business leaders in the electrification world to our Coalition," EC President Robbie Diamond said.  "The expansion of the Electrification Coalition reflects the widening support for electric cars and trucks, from Republicans and Democrats alike in Washington to mayors and governors across the country.  The expertise and experience that the new members of the Electrification Coalition will provide as our efforts continue will be invaluable."

Alexander M. Cutler has been Chairman and CEO of Eaton Corporation since 2000.  Eaton is a diversified power management company that sells products to customers in more than 150 countries.

Charles Gassenheimer is CEO and Chairman of Ener1, Inc., a leading energy storage systems company and manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batteries for automotive, utility grid and consumer electronics applications, employing 750 people globally.

Jim Piro serves as President and CEO of Portland General Electric, a fully integrated electric utility that serves approximately 822,000 residential, commercial and industrial customers in Oregon.

Mike Segal is Chairman and CEO of LS Power Group, a power generation and transmission group that has raised more than $13 billion to support investment in energy infrastructure since 2005.

Eric Spiegel serves as President and CEO of Siemens Corporation, the U.S. arm of Siemens AG, which has more than $21 billion in annual U.S. sales and employs more than 60,000 people in all 50 states.

The Electrification Coalition, launched in November 2009, is committed to promoting policies and actions that facilitate the deployment of electric vehicles on a mass scale in order to combat the economic, environmental, and national security threats posed by our nation's dependence on petroleum. The EC's 2009 Electrification Roadmap proposed a set of policies in which geographic areas would compete to be selected as electrification deployment communities, in which targeted, temporary financial incentives are employed so that all of the elements of an electrified transportation system are deployed simultaneously. On May 27, Republicans and Democrats in both the House and the Senate introduced legislation that largely echoed the Roadmap.  A version of the legislation was approved by the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on an overwhelming bipartisan 19-4 vote on July 21. The proposal was shortly after included in energy legislation introduced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.  Days later, Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell emerged from a meeting with President Obama and said that electric vehicles represented one of the areas in which Republicans could work with the White House.

SOURCE Electrification Coalition