Government officials from six cities in the US as well as Montreal, Canada have made a commitment to use more electric construction equipment in North America.
Leaders in the municipalities of Austin, Texas; Boulder County, Colorado; Los Angeles, California; Montréal, Canada; New York City; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and San Diego, California pledged to support pursuing programs and policies to advance the use of electric construction equipment wherever possible. Major capital construction entities, the signatories collectively spent more than $9.57 billion capital dollars in 2023 on purchased, rented or contracted construction equipment.
Some of the largest cities in the world are committed to advancing the goals of the Paris Climate Agreement through the increased use of electric construction equipment. As the market availability of electric construction equipment is nascent, the coalition can potentially spur the growth of the market in North America by taking steps to encourage its use.
For instance, The City of Austin is committed to reducing carbon emissions from municipal purchasing by 50% and is electrifying its fleet assets, which feature about 300 EVs. It has a goal of using EVs to travel 40% of total vehicle miles. Los Angeles has already made some purchases of all-electric equipment for city street services and construction and is taking steps to pilot contract language to support the use of electric equipment on public works projects.
“Although there is a robust market and infrastructure for electric construction equipment in certain cities around the world, the market needs significant growth in North American cities,” the officials said. “We want to leverage our role as leaders to build industry partnerships and create opportunities to develop the market for electric construction equipment in North America.”
“As suppliers increase market availability, signatories to this letter intend to purchase and/or use electric construction equipment on our projects wherever applicable and also intend to promote and pursue strategies that encourage the increased use of electric construction equipment in our contexts,” they added. “We call on suppliers to increase the availability of electric construction equipment and its supporting infrastructure and engage with this coalition.”