CAMPBELL, CA - Eight cities in northern California's Marin County -- all participants in Marin Clean Energy (MCE) -- will receive free electric charging stations from Coulomb Technologies, as a part of the company's $37 million ChargePoint America program.

The announcement was made jointly Oct. 7 by Sustainable San Rafael, which initiated the request, San Rafael Community Development Director Bob Brown and Coulomb Technologies.

Marin Clean Energy is an alternative energy program of the Marin Energy Authority, a not-for-profit joint powers authority. Participants include the county of Marin and the cities of San Rafael, Mill Valley, Fairfax, Sausalito, San Anselmo, Tiburon and Belvedere. Sustainable San Rafael's primary focus is to work to establish city and county policies that fight climate change.

Coulomb Technologies is a leader in electric vehicle charging systems. The company's ChargePoint Network provides multiple Web-based portals for fleet managers, drivers, hosts and utilities.

The ChargePoint stations have universal hookups that can be used by most plug-in electric vehicles, including the electric cars that major automakers will begin to roll out this fall. The first two charging stations are slated to be installed in the public parking garage between B and C Streets in downtown San Rafael.

San Rafael Mayor Al Boro and other officials unveiled the initial charging stations Oct. 9 at the San Rafael City Plaza on Fourth Street.

Coulomb is offering the free charging stations to other Marin County cities, as well. The Marin Energy Authority is expected to consider covering the installation costs of the donated charging stations for member cities, as part of its efforts to combat climate change by reducing carbon emissions.

The new stations will help form a network of electric vehicle charging stations around the Bay Area. The Transportation Authority of Marin (TAM) is pursuing plans and funding strategies for an early installation of 17 units throughout the county. The San Rafael units also represent a milestone in implementing the city's Climate Change Action Plan, which calls for EV charging station installation.

Coulomb's ChargePoint America program will provide 4,600 charging stations in nine regions in the United States: Austin, Texas; Detroit; Los Angeles; New York; Orlando; Sacramento, Calif.; the San Jose/San Francisco Bay Area; Bellevue/Redmond, Wash.; and Washington D.C. The program is a strategic partnership between Coulomb and three leading automobile makers: Ford, General Motors and smart USA.