Charlottetown pausing plans on electric buses and depot

The City of Charlottetown is pausing its plans to change over transit buses used in the capital region from diesel to electric.

A resolution was passed unanimously at a city council meeting on Tuesday night to expand the diesel fleet while easing into electrification with mini-buses and charging stations.

"We had previously approved the purchase of some electric buses and the construction of the depot to support those buses," said Coun. Norman Beck, vice-chair of the environment and sustainability committee.

"When we looked at the cost, the accelerated cost… the big increase in cost for electric buses, we had to start to sort of look at, 'Is that something we could still manage and expand our fleet, still expand our routes,' and look at the bigger picture."

Coun. Trevor MacKinnon, who is the chair of the environment and sustainability committee, did not attend the meeting.

During the council meeting, Coun. Terry Bernard noted the cost of electric buses has gone from $1.2 million to about $1.8 million over the past few years.

In 2023, the city announced federal, provincial and municipal funding of over $20 million to electrify the bus fleet, operated by T3, in the capital region, which includes Charlottetown, Cornwall and Stratford.

The plan also included a new bus depot that would be able to charge the fleet. Some of that funding came from the Investing in Canada Infrastructure Program (ICIP) Fund.

According to the resolution passed by council, the city hopes to pursue alternative plans that still align with that funding.

In November, the city had been planning to spend six million dollars on four electric buses with the hope of getting some on the road by 2026.

"Really what this is is a pause," Beck said. "Not that we are stopping the whole electrification process, but we are not going ahead with everything as we previously planned."

While the city will rely on diesel buses for the foreseeable future, the ones the city plans to buy will be more fuel efficient than the ones currently on the road, Beck said.

"The option that we proposed… will still achieve a lot of the greening initiatives, if you will, but also it's done in a more fiscally prudent manner," he said.

Charlottetown Mayor Philip Brown acknowledges there are costs with shifting from electric to diesel, but he isn't so sure more diesel will help make the city more green.

"In retrospect, from our administration, probably too much to handle for a small municipality," Brown said, adding that he remains committed to cutting emissions in the city.

"The extraction from a diesel engine is smog, it's pollution. I think we have to work a little harder on getting back on track to continue that race to net zero. I think council will do that."

Recently the provincial government announced it won't be buying any more electric school buses. That announcement did play a factor in his decision, Beck said.

"Circle back a few years ago, electrification would have been on everyone's mind and everyone wanted to get there. The reality is there have been some issues that have come out about electric buses, and I think that has certainly factored into some of the causes for revisiting the overall plan," he said.

The resolution passed on Tuesday night did include the purchase of an electric mini-bus and a charging station for it.

"What we are trying to do is to still reduce our C02 emissions. We're not abandoning the idea of electrification, it'll just be smaller units," Beck said.