![]() ![]() When the bill was signed, Berman and Assemblymember Lorena Gonzalez of San Diego called it a win for both the environment and human health. He fears his residential clients will purchase their own tools and do it themselves, pushing him out of a job. The cost of a full conversion by purchasing all electric tools, he said, would require him to raise prices 30%. That’s a loss of $1,000 a week.Īlready, Bryan has told his kid he can’t afford books or a new laptop. “I have 10 to 15 houses a day, right now, but with electric (tools), I may do seven or five houses a day,” he said. California estimates that a full transition of nearly 3 million tools used by landscaping professionals will cost $1.29 billion.īryan, a landscaper who asked to be identified by his first name only because he fears losing business, uses a mix of electric and gas equipment. An electric leaf blower and batteries cost nearly twice as much as a comparable gas version. There’s an argument for subsidizing the transition. The California Air Resources Board is still figuring out who will qualify for the rebate but Assemblymember Marc Berman, one of the authors of the bill, said he’s open to adding more funding if needed. ![]() The district paired that with an outreach program and encouraged landscapers to test electric equipment. In Southern California, a regional air quality district that has been running a similar incentive program since 2017 saw few takers until it increased rebates to 75% per tool. In fact, local governments have learned they need to offer more. The state agency responsible for administering the subsidy estimates it has only enough to give each self-employed gardener a 50% coupon for one tool, far from the truckload of leaf blowers, lawn mowers, small chainsaws, brushcutters and trimmers most haul around. Gavin Newsom has signed a bill banning the sale of most new gas powered tools by 2024, gardeners and landscapers say a $30 million state subsidy isn’t nearly enough to help small operators make the switch to electric. ![]()
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