LOS ANGELES (CNS) - The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power has added eight compressed natural gas aerial boom trucks to its fleet that will be used for tree trimming operations, officials announced Monday.
The purchase was made possible by a $240,000 state grant from the Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee. LADWP applied for the grant under MSRC's program for the purchase of Medium & Heavy-Duty Alternative Fuel Vehicles.
Qualifying heavy-duty alternative fuel vehicles were eligible to receive a maximum MSRC contribution of $30,000 per vehicle. The eight new CNG vehicles were ordered in September 2020, with all eight delivered and placed into service as of May 31, 2023.
"The MSRC grant will help increase our clean fuel fleet while also helping us decrease our CO2 emissions and reduce transportation-related pollution which is one of the largest contributors to L.A.'s still too smoggy skies," Katherine Rubin, director of environmental affairs for LADWP, said in a statement.
Replacing LADWP's older diesel-powered aerial boom trucks with alternative-fuel vehicles helps significantly reduce air emissions. LADWP operates a total of nearly 600 electric and hybrid vehicles out of its 8,600 on- road vehicles, which includes 4,200 heavy-duty vehicles.
That translates to about 4.29 million pounds of CO2 emissions avoided annually.
The MSRC was formed in 1990 under AB 2766, which created a discretionary fund to implement programs to reduce air pollution from motor vehicles.
To determine which projects should be funded by the discretionary fund, AB 2766 called for the creation of the MSRC, which is tasked with evaluating programs and making final recommendations to the South Coast Air Quality Management District Governing Board on which programs and/or projects would be funded.
A Technical Advisory Committee was formed to assist and advise the MSRC.
The John Ferraro Building, LADWP's downtown L.A. headquarters, was the first building in California to achieve the LEED Zero Energy in 2019. The building also earned the first-ever USGC Pacific Region Leadership Award for Decarbonization at the 2019 Greenbuilder Conference for continuing to make extensive energy efficiency upgrades.
To further sustainability efforts, LADWP partnered with the city to create the La Kretz Innovation Campus, which is a launching pad for the LA Cleantech Incubator created to enable development of clean technology start-up businesses in Los Angeles by offering flexible office space, business coaching, and access to expertise and capital.
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