City committee endorses proposal to buy electric buses for Calgary Transit
Global News
City of Calgary officials expect it can leverage $223 million in grant funding and a loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank to pay for the $491 million proposal.
The decision to move forward with a proposal to purchase up to 259 electric buses will be in the hands of Calgary city council after a committee gave the plan its endorsement.
The city’s executive committee got a presentation on the $491 million plan to purchase the buses on Tuesday before voting unanimously to bring the proposal to city council as a whole.
According to city officials, the proposal relies on a $168 million loan from the Canada Infrastructure Bank, and an additional $223 million in grants. The City of Calgary would need to put $100 million towards the proposal.
“This is really good news,” Mayor Jyoti Gondek told reporters. “For every dollar we’re putting in, we appear to be receiving four dollars back.”
Funds to cover the purchase of 259 zero-emission 40-foot buses would be $391 million. While $137 million would go towards charging infrastructure at the Anderson and Spring Gardens garages. A city report also lists $44 million in additional costs, but the report doesn’t disclose what those costs would cover.
But city administration told councillors the city would need to act fast and sign agreements with the Canada Infrastructure Bank by the end of the year if it wants to take advantage of a “below-market” interest rate of one per cent on the loan.
A city report said there is the risk that interest rate could increase if administration can’t get the necessary approvals or reach a definitive agreement.
Ward 6 Coun. Richard Pootmans called the plan “a heck of an opportunity,” but said he’d like to see metrics on greenhouse gas reduction in comparison with other initiatives in the works at the city, like the energy efficiency retrofit program.
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