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NYPA board of trustees approves $1 million to help towns & villages purchase electric vehicles

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Wed, Jul 28th 2021 03:30 pm

Zero-emission fleets to help reduce greenhouse gas pollution and accelerate state’s transition to cleaner mobility

The New York Power Authority board of trustees on Tuesday approved $1.1 million in additional funding to help New York’s municipal and rural electric cooperative systems bring more hybrid and electric vehicles into their fleets. The additional financial assistance, available through the Municipal and Rural Cooperative Electric Utilities Electric-Drive Vehicle Program, will expand a long-running clean energy partnership that encourages electric vehicle use and reduces greenhouse gas emissions across New York.

“This funding allows NYPA to strengthen its successful partnerships with its municipal electric and rural electric cooperative system customers and help them gradually replace less efficient fuel vehicles,” said John R. Koelmel, chairman of the board of trustees. “Adding electric and hybrid vehicles to municipal fleets will lower maintenance expenses, reduce transportation pollution and expand EV use throughout the state.”

The NYPA funding provides zero-interest loans to the Power Authority’s municipal and rural electric cooperative system customers for the purchase of electric and hybrid-electric vehicles for use in their fleets, as well as associated battery charging equipment. Purchases often include passenger vehicles, pickup trucks, off-road specialty vehicles and heavy-duty utility bucket trucks. The funds are then recovered from customers over a period of up to three years through a surcharge on their NYPA electric bills.

NYPA began the Municipal and Rural Cooperative Electric Utilities Electric-Drive Vehicle Program in 2003. In total, 86 vehicles have been placed with 25 cities, towns and villages across the state. This additional funding brings the current total allocated for the program to $12 million.

The 51 municipal electric and rural electric cooperative utility systems have been NYPA customers since the Niagara Power Project began generating power in 1961, when approximately 765-megawatts (MW) of low-cost Niagara hydropower were legislatively mandated for their use.

NYPA reserves 54 MW of that hydropower to promote economic development within those municipal and cooperative service territories. Power from the reserve is allocated by the NYPA board of trustees to individual systems to meet the increased electric load resulting from eligible new or expanding businesses in their service area. Currently, the economic development program supports more than 6,150 jobs around the state.

NYPA provides these communities with an array of energy-efficiency services and has helped install electric vehicle charging infrastructure for the public in support of Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s “Charge NY 2.0” initiative, an effort aimed at installing 10,000 charging stations by the end of the year.

Through NYPA’s EVolve NY program, it is creating a fast-charging network across the state to help accelerate the adoption of electric vehicles. More than 150 chargers, open to the public, are being installed along major interstate corridors, in five major cities and at New York City airports by the end of 2021.

Learn more about how NYPA is helping its customers find the power to succeed on NYPA’s services webpage.

NYPA is the largest state public power organization in the nation, operating 16 generating facilities and more than 1,400 circuit-miles of transmission lines. For more information, visit www.nypa.gov.

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