City looks to increase equity in electrical lawn care equipment

A new city memo from Austin's Sustainability office and Austin Energy lays out the next steps that will be taken to grow the amount of electric lawn care equipment in the city.

AUSTIN (KXAN) -- A new city memo from Austin's Sustainability office and Austin Energy lays out the next steps that will be taken to grow the amount of electric lawn care equipment in the city.

It is part of Austin's goal to reach net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Austin Energy did offer a deal for its customers if they purchased electric lawn equipment at participating stores in the Austin area. The deal offered $30 of savings on lawn mowers, $15 off of weed eaters, and $15 of savings on leaf blowers.

The city's memo stated that between July 2022 and June 2023, two-thirds of lawn care equipment purchased at the participating stores were electric. But the city now wants to make things more equitable.

"Electrifying landscaping equipment in Austin improves local air quality, and we know that the people experiencing the worst air quality issues in our community are those with low income and communities of color," Chief Sustainability Officer Zach Baumer said in a statement.

Austin Energy will be repurposing $50,000 of its rebate dollars to address equity issues. There is an idea being developed right now to create some type of trade-in event where the community can trade in their gas-powered mower to get a lower price on an electric mower. That program would be operated by the city's Sustainability Office, but it is still in the works and nothing is official yet.

"By offering potential pop-up or trade-in events in these communities, we could more effectively offer this benefit to the people who need it the most," Baumer explained.

The city now sees there is a market for people wanting to own an electric mower, but it also wants to focus on changing the commercial industry from gas-powered equipment to electrical equipment.

"We believe making strides in this area will have a greater impact on air pollution, noise, and worker safety," Baumer said.

It's unclear if the technology is there for the commercial sector to make the switch to electric equipment. The city will be conducting a survey to check the availability of electric equipment for the commercial sector.

City staff will hope to make additional rebate and incentive recommendations for city council in the future.