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Shapiro Administration Funds Clean Energy Vehicles Across the State

By Sean Kitchen

September 6, 2023

The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection awarded $2.9 million in grant funding to help school districts, local governments and businesses to purchase low or zero emissions vehicles. The funding will also help install electric vehicle charging stations.

Local governments, school districts, and businesses around Pennsylvania are receiving grant funding for no-emission electric vehicles (EVs) or low-emission vehicles powered by natural gas or propane. 

The Shapiro Administration announced last week that the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded $2.9 million in funding from the Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG) that will help businesses and local municipalities to switch to zero- or low-emission vehicles. 

“The Shapiro Administration is committed to supporting municipalities, school districts, and businesses that want to make zero- or low-emission transportation part of their operations,” said DEP Secretary Rich Negrin

“The range of funded projects—our first funded electric 18-wheelers, a 40-car electric taxi fleet, electric scooters for a residential development, propane and electric buses and garbage trucks, and more—shows that interest in clean transportation is burgeoning among business and community leaders in Pennsylvania,” Negrin added. “DEP is excited to help them include healthier air quality in their mission.”

The awarded money will fund 28 projects across the commonwealth and will install 32 electric vehicle chargers for public and private use and put 95 electric vehicles, 24 compressed or renewable natural gas vehicles, and 11 propane vehicles on the road. 

The Derry Township School District in Dauphin County received $70,000 for seven propane powered school buses as part of their Propane School Bus Conversion Project. In Montgomery County, Bryn Mawr College and the Springfield Township School District will both receive $100,000 to buy an electric school bus. 

Carlisle Borough, in Cumberland County, will receive $37,500 from the program to help with the cost of purchasing five electric pickup trucks and light passenger trucks for the Borough’s codes department, administrative staff and police department. Cumberland County will receive $60,000 to help buy six electric cars, one electric pickup truck, and one electric transit van that will be used by several county departments. The county will also receive $13,233 to install six level 2 chargers at two locations. 

According to the DEP, the grant  program supports transitioning to alternative fuels and getting more zero- and low-emission vehicles on the road helps reduce harmful air pollutants. 

Gasoline and diesel vehicles generate 47% of nitrogen oxides emissions in Pennsylvania, a major driver of  pollution. This affects the health of children, older people, people who work or are active outdoors, and people with asthma, emphysema, or other lung conditions.   

 

Author

  • Sean Kitchen

    Sean Kitchen is the Keystone’s political correspondent, based in Harrisburg. Sean is originally from Philadelphia and spent five years working as a writer and researcher for Pennsylvania Spotlight.

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