Going Electric - Who's Going to Pay?

The jury's no longer out on whether GSE needs to go electric.  Studies done by a wide-range of groups — from the Department of Energy to private companies — all show that electric is cheaper in the long-run, especially when the cost of fuel goes up, and electric vehicles are cheaper to maintain.  (And for cold weather operations, electric has a clear advantage.)  The environmental benefits are also beyond dispute at this point — the carbon footprint of electric GSE is significantly smaller than for gas- or diesel-powered vehicles. The big issues are infrastructure and paying for new equipment or converting old equipment. So two things need to happen — the airports need to update their infrastructure to support electric GSE and GSE operators need to find the money to invest in new equipment or conversion of old equipment. GSE operators are not alone in wanting to go electric on the ramp. Airlines and airport operators will be under increasing pressure to reduce their carbon footprints.  One way to do that will be to reduce their emissions on the ground. So they are going to be pushing ground handlers to convert their vehicles so that they can get the credit for the resulting reduction in emissions. Ground handling companies may end up getting squeezed to make investments in new or converted vehicles, even when it is not economically an opportune time. But before that happens, companies need to look into what opportunities there are for government grants. And while I haven't seen any public utilities giving grants for GSE, that doesn't mean that they can't be pursuaded to do so. For example, the recently passed stimulus bill has $6.9 billion for state block grants for energy efficiency improvements and reduction of carbon emissions. Each state can spend this money broadly on projects covered by the legislation. GSE operators need to meet with their airport operators to see whether some of that money could be used for infrastructure improvements at their airports and purchases of electric GSE or GSE conversions. The Department of Energy and EPA have or have had grants for energy efficiency improvements which should be explored. The FAA's  Airport Improvement Program grants may now or in the future be available for carbon reduction projects. While the focus may have been on delivery fleets and shuttle buses in the past, this doesn't mean that airport operators can't make the case for electric GSE at their airports. I know that a number of airports hire dedicated personnel to pursue grant opportunities. GSE  operators need to make sure that their needs are covered in the pursuit of such grants.