A $110,000 federal grant will jump-start Saanich’s efforts to install more than new electric vehicle (EV) chargers at municipal facilities to make district operations more sustainable.
As the district works to further electrify its municipal vehicle fleet, 22 Level 2 electric vehicle charging stations will be installed at five municipal facilities by fall 2022.
READ ALSO: Saanich plugs into $100,000 government grant for 20 new EV chargers
The new chargers are for district use only. All of the municipality’s light-duty vehicles are electric, some EVs have been added to the police and fire fleets and two electric Zambonis are used at the G.R. Pearkes Arena.
“Adding additional electric vehicles and charging stations to our municipal fleet supports Saanich’s transition to renewable fuels and helps us meet our corporate climate targets,” Mayor Fred Haynes said in a news release. The new infrastructure will help reduce the greenhouse gas emissions created by district operations – which have dropped nearly 20 per cent since 2007.
READ ALSO: Saanich swaps last propane-powered Zamboni for electric model
The installation of the new chargers will cost $220,000 with funding from Natural Resources Canada’s Zero Emission Vehicle Infrastructure Program. Last June, the district was awarded a $100,000 grant from the same program to assist with the installation of 20 public chargers at municipal mall and its annex, Cedar Hill Recreation Centre and the Cedar Hill Golf Course and four will go in at Saanich Commonwealth Place as well as one each at Cadboro-Gyro Park, Mount Douglas Park, Hampton Park and Beckwith Park.
The district’s goal is to reduce corporate GHG emissions to 50 per cent of 2007 levels by 2025 and get to net-zero emissions by 2040. The municipal fleet accounts for more than 60 per cent of the corporate GHG emissions, so making the switchis a step the district deemed necessary.
READ ALSO: Saanich starts charging to charge at municipal EV stations in 2021
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