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Senate OKs rebate program for electric landscaping equipment, excludes individual homeowners
Summary
The Senate passed a bill enabling a NYSERDA-administered rebate program for electric landscaping equipment aimed at commercial and municipal users; individuals were excluded. Debate covered funding sources (RGGI/NYSERDA), battery vs. corded devices, eligibility, and public-health rationale.
The New York State Senate on March 17, 2025, approved legislation authorizing a rebate program to encourage commercial and municipal users to replace gas-powered landscaping equipment with electric models, citing air-quality and noise-reduction benefits.
Senator Liz Krueger, the bills sponsor, said the program would authorize the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) to use existing funds, including funds from the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), to establish rebates and set limits. Krueger described the program as flexible on caps and technical details and said it is aimed at institutional and commercial purchasers, not individual homeowners.
Debate focused on funding, eligibility and technical details. Senator Krueger and colleagues cited public-health memos noting that gas-powered lawn equipment contributes ground-level ozone and fine particulate pollution and linked that pollution to asthma and cardiovascular risks. "What I do know is both of them are better than gas powered equipment," Krueger said when asked about battery versus corded options. Senator May described a personal example of noise and health: after caring for a relative undergoing cancer treatment, constant lawn and leaf equipment noise impeded recovery. "The noise that they produce is truly disturbing for people who are trying to get a child to sleep or are trying to recover from an illness," she said in support.
Sponsor and questioners clarified eligibility. The bill lists eligible entities including commercial landscaping businesses, municipalities, state authorities, school districts, universities, nonprofits and similar organizations; individual homeowners are not eligible. The sponsor told the chamber that the statutes list was intentionally focused on nonpersonal, institutional buyers and that corded (plug-in) devices are generally not available at the scale institutional users require, so the program largely anticipates battery-powered equipment. Equipment enumerated in the bill includes walk-behind and riding mowers, hedge trimmers, leaf blowers, mulchers, chippers, chainsaws, cultivators, tillers and certain snow-removal equipment.
After floor debate the Senate passed the measure (Calendar 471; Senate Print 1574) by recorded vote. The roll call announced on the floor showed 51 yeas and 9 nays. The bill text recorded on the floor included an immediate effective date for Section 2.
