Help Increase Rebates for Electric Riding Lawnmowers

VERMONTERS consume lots of fossil fuel mowing our lawns, and a large percentage of this fuel is burned by residential riding mowers that often consume 30 to 50+ gallons of fuel per year.

Fortunately, over the past decade, we’ve seen a huge increase in the availability of battery-electric lawn mowers and yard tools. These are just as powerful as their gas-powered counterparts, but are more convenient, quieter, less expensive to operate, and have zero-tailpipe emissions.

As shown on the “Equipment” page of the Mow Electric! website (www.mowelectric.org), there are also now over 20 brands of residential WALK-BEHIND E-mowers and yard tools such as string trimmers, leaf blowers, and chainsaws. There are also nine brands of residential/light duty E-RIDING mowers made by EGO, Cub Cadet, Ryobi, Greenworks, DR Power Equipment, Mean Green, and Hustler (sold by Spear Street Mowers).

To make it easier for Vermonters to switch to greener lawn care equipment, all of Vermont’s electric companies offer generous rebates for residential electric walk-behind mowers and yard tools, as long as they’re purchased in Vermont. A summary of these rebates and links to the application forms and rules can also be found on the MowElectric! website.

Residential E-RIDING mowers typically cost $4,000 to $7,500, which is typically $1,500 to $2,500 more than an equivalent gas/diesel mower, but most Vermont utilities don’t offer rebates for residential E-riding mowers, and GMP’s rebate is only $100. Therefore the Mow Electric! Campaign is collaborating with VEIC to collect Vermont-specific data to expand and/or increase the rebates to better reflect their potential to reduce GHG emissions, and to also further stimulate the transition to electric lawn care equipment in Vermont.

So if your household uses a riding mower and you want to contribute to this effort, please fill out the short Google survey on the “Get Involved” page of the Mow Electric! website (https://www.mowelectric.org/residential-riding-mower-survey).

Please note that this survey needs to be submitted by Tuesday, September 13th. You’re also invited to share this survey with others owners of riding mowers.