Electric vehicle charging stations worth a complete of quite $1.7 million is coming to 26 government agencies, universities, and electric utilities in Louisiana.
The Department of Environmental Quality is awarding 79 grants for the charging stations, using money from the state’s $19.8 million shares of an almost $3 billion settlement in 2016 between the U.S. Department of Justice and Volkswagen over violations of the Clean Air Act. Volkswagen sold about 590,000 vehicles equipped with devices that defeated their pollution control features, leading to increased emissions of oxide.
Almost $12 million of Louisiana’s share was put aside to exchange 351 diesel buses owned by 16 local school boards. Almost half the new buses are fueled by cleaner-burning propane or compressed natural gas; the others are cleaner-burning diesel engines. In each case, the new engines will reduce oxide emissions and other pollutants like sulfur dioxide, volatile organic compounds, and particulate.
Nitrogen oxides and sulfur dioxides are precursor chemicals that, combined with sunlight, create ground-level ozone.
The school boards must prove that the engines of the replaced buses were destroyed before receiving the cash.
Net-zero carbon emissions by 2050 are the governor’s goal
Another $7.3 million from Louisiana’s share of the national settlement was given to the Department of Transportation and Development and therefore the Department of Agriculture to exchange old diesel equipment and vehicles.
The new grants, which include funds not spent within the earlier rounds of projects, are aimed toward helping entities that either decide to buy or have already got bought electric vehicles, by providing them with three different levels of charging stations:
A Level 2 light-duty electric vehicle station provides 240-cycle electricity which will charge vehicle batteries over several hours.
A direct current fast charger can charge a vehicle in as little as a half-hour.
A paratransit charger station is meant to service multiple vehicles directly.
Grants within the New Orleans area include:
City of latest Orleans, five light-duty chargers, one fast charger, $95,000
Xavier University, two light-duty chargers, one fast charger, $47,200
Jefferson Parish government, three light-duty chargers, two fast chargers, $106,000
In the Baton Rouge area, grants include:
Capital Area Transit System, one paratransit station, $30,000
City of Baton Rouge, one fast charger, $36,000
East Baton Rouge Recreation and Parks Commission, six light-duty chargers, 1 fast charger, $107,000
Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, three fast chargers, $138,000
LSU campus sustainability, three light-duty chargers, $36,000
Southern University, four light-duty chargers, $48,000
Lake Charles area grant recipients include:
Sowela Technical junior college, three light-duty chargers, $36,000
City of Westlake, three light-duty chargers, $36,000
Calcasieu Parish Airport Authority, three light-duty chargers, $36,000
Lafayette area grants include:
Lafayette Utilities System, four light-duty chargers, one fast charger, $83,000
