HARRISBURG, Pa. — The Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) awarded over $1 million in grants April 25 for nine clean energy vehicle projects in southwest Pennsylvania that will help improve air quality and public health.
An additional $187,000 in grants were awarded in northwest Pennsylvania.
The projects in southwest Pennsylvania are expected to reduce annual greenhouse gas emissions by more than 5,745 metric tons.
Allegheny County
– City of Pittsburgh: $135,160 to add eight two-plug electric vehicle charging stations to a city fleet lot and $67,500 for nine electric vehicles for the fleet.
– Scoobi, Inc.: $150,000 for 150 electric scooters for a rideshare fleet.
– UPMC: $61,950 for six compressed natural gas-powered buses to replace diesel buses in the UPMC Employee Transit program.
– McCandless Township Sanitary Authority: $31,200 for five propane/gasoline bi-fuel vehicles.
Butler County
– Lego-V: $352,800 for an innovative technology project to build a virtual pipeline system to transport renewable compressed natural gas to markets in Pennsylvania
– Classy Cab Company: $67,500 for nine electric vehicles. Westmoreland County
– DMJ Transportation: $151,555 for 17 liquid propane gas-powered school buses to service the Mt. Pleasant Area School District.
– Note to Health, LLC: $4,729 for a plug-in hybrid for a touring nutrition education program.
The northwestern Pa. grants included:
Armstrong County
– Armstrong Conservation District: $7,500 to purchase and convert a vehicle to run on compressed natural gas (CNG)/gasoline bi-fuel as part of their mobile environmental education program.
Indiana County
– VEC Energy, LLC: $165,000 for 22 CNG powered vehicles.
– White Township: $15,000 to convert two trucks to run on CNG/gasoline bi-fuel.
What funding covers
The funding, which comes from the commonwealth’s Alternative Fuels Incentive Grants (AFIG) Program, supports the replacement of older shuttles, school buses, waste-hauling trucks, and other vehicles with cleaner natural gas and electric vehicles, as well as the installation of fueling stations for such vehicles.
More AFIG grant applications are invited. Starting April 26, approximately $6 million is available to school districts, municipalities, nonprofit organizations, and businesses for clean energy transportation projects.
