Community Corner
Cool Find in Sumner: Electric Vehicle Guru Jay Donnaway
Jay Donnaway is the Resource Conservation Manager at the Sumner School District and also provides services to the cities of Sumner, Bonney Lake, Buckley and Orting.
He's responsible for tracking the data that leads to better and more efficient use of electricity, gas and other resources at the Sumner School District, but his real passion is the electric vehicle (EV).
Jay Donnaway acknowledges the environmental and political implications both of his job and his passion conveys -- that he's a hippie -- right before confessing to keeping a diesel-guzzling Ford F250 truck just so it can tow his EV babies to assorted shows and racing events.
You see, it's the machinery, above all else, that inspires Donnaway to own two EVs of his own and continue to watch industry trends as well as tinker with his toys at home. He documents his exploits on his blog karmanneclectric.blogspot.com.
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Donnaway's giddiness both at the surprisingly powerful performance of these small cars and the long-term cost savings from relying on an EV for his daily commute is hard to contain. As with many energy-saving endeavors, the start-up costs are high, he said, but the long-term cost savings would make it worth it.
The J-O-B seemed to meld perfectly with the love for EV this past February when Donnaway was able to work with a company called ECOtality to bring three electric vehicle charging stations to Sumner (half a block from Main Street on Wood Avenue) through the Sumner School District.
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The stations, meant for public use, were paid for through a federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant.
Drivers of EVs can pull in their vehicles and at a rate of $1/hour can charge up their vehicles while they run errands or work nearby.
Donnaway clarifies the payment isn't so a driver can 'purchase' electricity - only Puget Sound Energy can sell electricity in Sumner, he said - but are rather renting time on the station. The school district is paying for the electricity.
Proceeds from the rental are split between the school district and ECOtality so it is a revenue source for the district, he said.
We followed Donnaway over to see how a charging station works. See the video.
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