One of the goals for the City of Roses Disposal and Recycling is to reduce our collective impact on the environment. For us, that’s what trash removal and recycling is all about. If we clean up the places we live and find ways to minimize the trash we produce we are helping to build better communities, with a bonus of maybe also increasing higher-wage jobs. That’s what we aim to do. With this in mind, we are excited to be working towards securing the first electric trash truck in Oregon.
As with much of what we do, we couldn’t take on this challenge alone. Shifting vehicles to electric involves not just the cost of the vehicle, which can be up to 50% more expensive than a typical diesel truck, but also the cost to put in the infrastructure to keep the vehicles properly charged. It’s one thing for a homeowner to simply plug in an electric car, but quite another undertaking for a business to charge a fleet of electric-powered service vehicles. The cost of the infrastructure is part of the puzzle, as is determining how much power will need to be generated by electric companies to keep vehicles running while also assuring all other electricity needs are met.
PGE Fleet Partner Program
Understanding that a shift to electric vehicles is coming and there is still much work to be done to get ready for that time, Portland General Electric launched its Fleet Partner Program. The goal of the program is to help build out the state’s electrification infrastructure and working with applicants, gain insight into exactly what the power needs will be as companies and communities go electric.
The $6.7 million Fleet Partner Program, launched in 2021, offers governments, private companies, schools, and other commercial customers free, zero-commitment planning and technical service to outline the needs and costs for fleet electrification infrastructure. Through this program, PGE is helping to figure out exactly what it will cost to install an adequate number of charging stations to keep a host of fleet service vehicles like school buses, work trucks, and emergency vehicles running on electric power. Without programs such as PGE’s and other local state, and federal incentives, a switch to electric would be cost-prohibitive.
In mid-November, PGE reported it had received 80 applications with 45% of applicants being government agencies and 20 of the overall applicants committed to construction. Those who move forward with construction are eligible to have PGE facilitate the build-out of the infrastructure which PGE will own and maintain. Participants must show their project would add a minimum of 70kW new load, that they have a 10-year consumption commitment, and that they will purchase and install one charger within six months of construction that has been purchased from one of PGE’s qualified vendors.
COR Embraces Electric Garbage Trucks
Never one to shy away from a challenge to be more sustainable, the City of Roses Disposal and Recycling (COR) was one of the first applicants, requesting support to deploy the state’s first two electric garbage trucks. Our application to First Fleet was the second application we submitted to a PGE program. In 2020, COR worked with the Columbia-Willamette Clean Cities Coalition to obtain a $675,218 grant from PGE’s Drive Change Fund to help us purchase the electric garbage truck. Our organizations worked together again in 2021 to score a Department of Environmental Quality grant for a new electric terminal tractor “Yard Goat”. COR then purchased a 150 kW dual-port charger.
The reduced impact on the environment will be significant as will our company costs. According to the U.S. Department of Energy’s Alternative Fuel Data Center refuse trucks in the U.S. on-average use around 8,800 gallons of diesel fuel annually. The Clean Cities Coalition estimated that COR’s refuse truck would reduce diesel use by around 9,400 gallons annually, eliminating all emissions or about 137 tons of carbon dioxide-equivalent emissions each year. According to the US EPA’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator, that’s the same emission reductions as diverting around 43 tons of waste from landfills to recycling, planting more than 2,050 new trees that grow for 10 years, or the carbon sequestration potential of 147 acres of US forests in one year.
We’re optimistic that a switch to electric will be directly beneficial to COR as the added upfront costs can be offset by the low operating and maintenance costs of an electric vehicle. At today’s fuel prices we spend close to $38,000 annually to fuel one truck. With a switch to electric COR will cut its fuel costs by more than half, saving the company over $15,000 annually. The future of electric is exciting and we’re anxious to see how electric can improve our waste collection service.
Being pioneers in achieving zero waste is what we thrive on and the PGE program is helping us move quickly to be at the forefront of electric garbage trucks. Our hope is that by taking this step out of the box, we will be a catalyst for more companies to add electrification to their service vehicles not only moving us all towards cleaner neighborhoods but also helping to create green jobs. This is just another step that COR is taking to define success by how much our actions help create more sustainable communities. Contact us if you’d like to learn more about our initiatives.