City looking to add more green buses

Council dedicated to having an all electric transit service

In addition to 10 zero-emission battery electric buses the city will have in July, there is a good chance four more of such buses will be added to the city’s transit fleet for a total of 14.

Richard Tree, manager of the city’s transit center, said the Porterville City Council, at its meeting on May 15, authorized staff to submit an application for funding to the Federal Transit Administration’s (FTA) FY 2018 Low or No Emission Grant Program.

The council provided direction to city staff at its meeting on June 5 to replace four of the city’s Compressed natural gas (CNG) buses that are near the end of their life, with four zero-emission battery electric buses. The move will not only provide the city’s transit fleet with backup electric buses, but it also helps the city stay in compliance with a clean transit rule proposed by the California Air Resources Board (CARB) in December 2017, which will require 100 percent zero-emission transit bus procurement by the year 2030.

City Manager John Lollis said the San Joaquin Valley Air Pollution Control District (SJVAPCD) also has a mandate that every bus in the Central Valley is electric by the year 2030.

Vice Mayor Brian Ward said choosing to replace the CNG buses with electric was a no-brainer.

“I think we have a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity here in Porterville to be able to kind of build a model for the nation or even the world in terms of green technology and public transportation,” Ward said, adding that he would love to see schools get on board, too. “I am thinking if we have five other buses, can’t we lease them to the schools for use for field trips or whatever else.”

Councilmember Martha Flores said she is also in support of the program and is pleased to hopefully soon have a facility that will employ a number of Porterville residents.

“Hopefully that will be soon,” Flores said.

Councilmember Monte Reyes said electric is the way to go.

“Over a short time, I have seen great progress in technology and I think electric is definitely the way to go, especially locally,” Reyes said.

Ward added that the city can benefit economically by choosing to go all electric.

“There is an economic incentive for us to make this work and to help other communities make it work because the amount of revenue that we get back from the buses that are sold to other communities won’t be little,” Ward said, adding, “We are in it to win it so let’s see where this goes.”

However, Mike Reed, the city’s public works director, said although he thinks the program is solid, he’s a little worried about the city having an all electric transit fleet.

“I love the technology, but at this point and time we don’t know how much it is going to cost to operate the buses and we don’t know how costly it is going to be to maintain the buses,” Reed said. “My fear is that we are putting all of our eggs in one basket and I don’t know what the cost is going to be.”

Ward said he understood Reed’s concerns, but noted that “the eggs are already out there.”

“The reality is we are already committed to 10 buses anyway, so that learning curve is going to have to be met regardless of the decision in terms of adding more to the fleet,” Ward said. “We are already moving to electric so the question is do we want to start breaking future eggs.”

Another issue with replacing four CNG buses with zero-emission battery electric ones, Lollis said, is the potential that the FTA could come back for some of its money.

“They provided a million and a half in grant funds, and they could ask for a rebate of a depreciated value,” Lollis said, adding that even though

the FTA hasn’t said it would do anything, “It is something to be eyes wide open about that there would potentially be some exposure for that.”

Should the city receive funding from the FTA for four buses, Lollis said Buy America provisions will apply. Such provisions, Lollis said, require that 65 percent of the cost center of a bus needs to be materials manufactured in the U.S.

Brendan Riley, the president of Greenpower, said the 65 percent will likely go up to 66 percent or even 67 percent when the project takes place.

“These buses would have to be assembled here in Porterville with Porterville people and would require the buses to be largely completed here in Porterville,” Riley said, adding that Greenpower internationally sources a lot of the components on the buses. “Only assembly has to be done here.”

As far as a manufacturing facility, Riley said the plan right now is to lease a 50,000 to 200,000 square-foot facility to do the assembly in Porterville. He said the reason Greenpower hasn’t accelerated its facility in the

city is because the company hasn’t had any Buy America compliant sales yet.

In terms of the remaining shipments of Greenpower buses, Riley said he can’t wait until they arrive.

“We are very interested in getting those delivered as soon as possible and running as soon as possible,” Riley said. “And we appreciate the business.”