By Steve Tarter

PEORIA — There’s an Oasis on Galena Road.

That’s the name of the truck battery made by Firefly Energy Inc., which officially opened its new facility Tuesday at 6533 N. Galena Road.

Firefly looks for big things from the Oasis model, lighter and more powerful than existing truck batteries, according to company officials.

“We look to go into production on Oasis early next year,” said CEO Edward Williams at a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the 40,000-square-foot building where some of the battery components will be produced.

The truck battery will be the first product to hit the market for Firefly, a company that spun out of Caterpillar Inc. in 2003. Since then, the company has received more than $30 million in support from private, city, county, state and federal sources.

Saluting Firefly’s progress was U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Illinois, who called the Firefly battery concept “a critical part of the energy policy of the future.”

Durbin also cited U.S. Rep. Ray LaHood, R-Peoria, for the work the retiring congressman did to line up military contracts for Firefly. The company expects to start shipping high-tech batteries to the U.S. Army in late 2009.

LaHood acknowledged Firefly’s 45 employees for their work “on a revolutionary way to create energy with a new battery.”

Peoria Mayor Jim Ardis also focused on the Firefly staff, calling its diversity and work ethic a model for the future.

“Firefly could have moved their operations to a lot of different places but they chose to keep it in Peoria. Hopefully, they’ll keep the production here, too,” said Ardis.

Firefly plans to produce components next year that would be shipped to battery manufacturers around the country. The company hopes to produce up to 200,000 truck batteries in 2009.

Also on display was one of 20 Firefly-powered, over-the-road trucks operated by Morton-based G&D Integrated, a Firefly partner that purchased the building on Galena Road for the firm. The trucks use Oasis prototype batteries that allow truckers to operate air conditioning and other electronics off battery power alone.

The Oasis can power equipment 10 to 12 hours at a time. “The best (truck) battery you can find today only provides five hours of use,” said Williams.

With California passing clean-air legislation this year limiting truck idling to five minutes, truckers look for batteries to power their air conditioners and television sets, said Troy Behymer, G&D’s manager of corporate maintenance.

Firefly expects to also enter the hybrid electric market, said Williams, adding the company has been talking with “three carmakers on two continents.”

“Over the next 24 months, we expect to build a strategy to help the auto industry,” he said.

Firefly’s move to Galena Road might start a trend, said State Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Peoria. “Silicon Valley started with one company, too. Hopefully, this will be the first of many new ventures to open here,” he said.