At most truck stops, you'll find drivers running their engines so they can watch television or use a microwave.

And it adds up. Truckers use up about one billion gallons of diesel fuel every year idling, according to the Federal Highway Administration.

But truckers now have an alternative in Kenly.

Big Boys Truck Stop on Bagley Road opened the first ShorePower electrification stations on the East Coast.

Truckers can plug into one of the 24 new electrification stations to use their appliances. And they can shut off the engines.

"We thought it was pretty forward thinking. And we wanted to make a difference in our community," said Wendi Powell, whose family owns Big Boys Truck Stop.

The truckers pay a dollar an hour to plug in, compared with the $2.70 for the gallon of diesel it would take to power a truck for an hour.

"I would say in the long run it's gonna be a great fuel savings benefit," said Norm McHenry with Tri-Point Truck Center.

And the truckers can help reduce air pollution.

The environmental impact of plugging a truck into one of the stations for just an hour can be equivalent to planting a tree, said Anne Tazewell, the transportation program manager at the North Carolina Solar Center at NC State University.

The $180,000 project in Kenly is funded through a Clean Fuel Advanced Technology grant administered by the N.C. Solar Center, the N.C. Department of Transportation, State Energy Office and the Division of Air Quality.

But only about 20 percent of the trucks on the road are equipped to plug into the stations. Newer models are more likely to have the necessary receptacles.

"The jury is still out on what is going to become the dominant technology to solve this problem. We hope this is right up there," said Tazewell.