HOUSTON- The City of Houston, Texas, has installed its first set of networked charging stations for plug-in electric vehicles.

Funded by Reliant Energy, the ten Coulomb Technologies charging stations are available for consumer and City fleet use and are part of a public demonstration project, dubbed the "Power of the Plug-In". The charging stations will be located around Houston, with public stations at City Hall, the Health Department office and at the Mayor's Citizens Assistance Office.

"Coulomb's charging stations in Houston demonstrate that the City will be EV-ready," said Richard Lowenthal, CEO of Coulomb Technologies. "With more than 3,800 light duty, non-specialty vehicles the city fleet and thousands of electric cars on the roads in the coming years, the installation of these charging stations signals a new way of fueling up in the lone star state. Houston is sending an important message to its residents that alternative fuels are on their way, and the infrastructure to power these vehicles is available."

The network of electric vehicle charging stations, called the ChargePoint Network, is accessible to all plug-in drivers by making a toll free call to the 24/7 number on each charging station, or drivers can subscribe to the ChargePoint Network and receive a ChargePoint Smart Card that allows them to charge their car at any charging station worldwide. The ChargePoint Network enabled charging stations provide:

• Notification by SMS text or email when charging is complete.

• The ability for drivers to find unoccupied charging stations via web-enabled cell phones.

• Authenticated access to eliminate energy theft.

• Authorized energizing for safety.

• Remote monitoring and diagnostics for superior quality of service.

• Smart Grid integration for utility load management with future V2G capabilities.

To locate available charging stations, visit http://www.mychargepoint.net and click "Find Stations."