April 2023 - Parks & Recreation - 36

ELECTRIFICATION
tion Administration - a percentage
that is growing annually.
The cost of converting to electric
will not be insubstantial,
power
however. How park and recreation
agencies will pay for the costs of
converting to carbon-free energy
is a matter of concern, doubly so
in an inflationary cycle. On the
positive side, however, tens of
billions of dollars in new funding
will be available to states and
localities from the federal Inflation
Reduction Act passed
in
2022.
Park and recreation agencies may
be eligible for grants or matching
funds to build out vehicle charging
infrastructure,
for
conservation
and climate-resiliency projects, for
cost-sharing the purchase of cleanpower
vehicles and equipment, for
community
health projects
that
reduce urban heat island effects,
and for community connectivity
and walkability projects.
Manufacturers Gearing Up
for Electrification
In a wide-ranging conversation
with senior representatives of
The Toro Company, one of the
leading manufacturers of commercial
grade mowers and power
equipment, the representatives
affirmed they are making the
conversion
to
electrically powered
equipment a strategic priority
of the company. " We are
providing electrically powered
products to our customers who
are increasingly requesting such
equipment, " says Tony Ferguson,
senior product marketing manager
of the commercial division at
the company.
The company sees the move
to electrification as an industrywide
imperative driven by customer
demand and regulatory
factors. It's important to note that
more leading manufacturers of
commercial-grade mowers and
power equipment recognize this
need in the park and recreation
space and either currently offer
or plan to introduce electricpowered
products in the future.
On the regulatory front, early
adopting states, such as New
York and California, are being
followed by many others, passing
mandates to transition from
diesel and gas-powered tools,
equipment and vehicles to those
powered by renewable sources of
energy. Much of this regulatory
framework is intended to reduce
greenhouse gas emissions.
" Customers want to be better
stewards of the environment, "
says Paula Sliefert, senior marketing
manager at The Toro Company,
noting this is a belief held
strongly in both the public sector
and the private sector.
EVs at DPR
There are currently 850 fleet vehicles throughout M-NCPPC Prince George's County below is a breakdown of
type and opportunity. These opportunities cover class 1&2 vehicles which comprise most of the fleet:
What is the
biggest need?
Equivalent to 460
tree saplings
grown for 10 years
An infographic developed
by the M-NCPPC
in Prince George's
County, Maryland, is
used by its Sustainability
Team to explain
the opportunities and
benefits of electrifying
its fleet of park and
recreation vehicles and
equipment.
36 Parks & Recreation | APRIL 2 0 2 3
| PARK S ANDRECRE AT ION . OR G
52
3
2
2
All Electric EVs
All Electric Heavy
Equipment
All Electric UTVs
Equivalent
to GHG
avoided by
11,609
lights
converted
to LED
45
Hybrid Vehicles
Vehicles eligible to be
replaced with EVs currently
available in the market
Equivalent to
saved carbon
emissions from
60,406,597
smart phones
107
Vehicles that could possibly
transition to electric as
equivalent vehicles become
available and cost effective;
vehicle types expected to
release in 2024-2025
The Department
must invest in EV
charging
infrastructure at
Maintenance Yards
and HQ over the
next few fiscal years
168
Vehicles assigned to
park police that have
different requirement
needs and specs
IMAGE COURTESY OF THE MARYLAND-NATIONAL CAPITAL PARK AND PLANNING COMMISSION
April 2023 - Parks & Recreation

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