The Greater Hartford Transit District announced today at a Union Station press conference that it has contracted with UTC Power of South Windsor, Conn., for the company and its partners to provide a 40-foot hybrid electric fuel cell-powered transit bus that will be used in revenue service. As part of the agreement, UTC Power also will provide two years of program support, including the use of a hydrogen refueling station. UTC Power is a United Technologies Corp. (NYSE: UTX - News) company.

A $2.9 million grant from the Federal Transit Administration to the Greater Hartford Transit District will pay for the bus and infrastructure to support future fuel cell transportation projects in Greater Hartford. CTTRANSIT will operate the bus once it arrives in Hartford.

The many benefits of fuel cell-powered buses include quiet operation, fuel efficiency that is more than two times better than a standard diesel-powered bus and zero harmful tailpipe emissions. Their clean operation means they can have an immediate positive impact on street-level emissions.

The bus refueling facility will be located at UTC Power's headquarters in South Windsor, about 10 miles from Hartford.

UTC Power President Jan van Dokkum thanked U.S. Rep. John Larson, D-Conn., for championing the project and helping to secure federal funding. "With Connecticut being a center for fuel cell technology development, it is only fitting that Hartford have New England's first fuel cell bus," van Dokkum said. "We hope it is the first of many."

UTC Power's industry partners in producing the bus include A.C. Transit of Oakland, Calif., which now has three UTC Power fuel cell-powered buses in operation; Van Hool of Belgium, one of the world's largest bus and coach manufacturers; and ISE Corporation of Poway, Calif., a leading integrator of hybrid-electric and integrated fuel cell drive systems for buses.

UTC Power has provided fuel cell power plants for fleet transportation since 1998, and its fuel cells have powered buses in the United States, Spain and Italy.

United Technologies Corp., based in Hartford, Conn., provides high-technology products and services to the building and aerospace industries. Its UTC Power unit includes UTC Fuel Cells and is a full-service provider of environmentally advanced power solutions. With more than 40 years of experience, UTC Power is a world leader in developing and producing fuel cells for onsite power, transportation, space and defense applications, and a developer of innovative combined cooling, heating and power applications in the distributed energy market.