The Los Angeles Department of Water and Power (LADWP) has added eight new CNG-fueled bucket trucks to its fleet. The MSRC provided $240,000 in Clean Transportation funding from its Local Government Match Program designed to co-fund clean air projects for cities and counties in the South Coast region.
These alternative fuel aerial boom trucks will be used for tree trimming and to support the safety and reliability of LADWP’s power transmission and distribution operations. “What’s unique about this project is that LADWP’s tree trimmer trucks are the only ones of their kind for this application,” noted Ellis Chiu, Environmental Engineering Associate for LADWP. “Most tree trimming activities are comprised of two crews, an aerial cutting and a chipper crew, with separate vehicles typically powered by diesel engines. Our application consists of a single vehicle with a cleaner CNG engine that results in lower emissions and better air quality.”
LADWP is committed to making its fleet operations more sustainable. Currently, it has 528 electric, 421 hybrid, and 325 CNG vehicles in its fleet. This translates into about 4.29 million pounds of carbon dioxide emissions avoided each year.
These eight CNG boom trucks have replaced older, more polluting diesel-powered vehicles. Because these trucks need to be running in order to operate the aerial device mounted on the trucks, they will produce fewer emissions when crews are working in local communities, bringing cleaner air to residents.