BY MAT CLOUSER
PITTSFORD — In the 37th law of Robert Greene’s book The 48 laws of Power, under the heading “Create Compelling Spectacles,” Green wrote that “Striking imagery and grand symbolic gestures create the aura of power—everyone responds to them.”
Perhaps knowing a few things about power themselves, Green Mountain Power (GMP) held its very own spectacle on Thursday morning with its Destroy-a-Truck event at GHR Recycling in Pittsford.
The event—aimed at celebrating the first step toward an eventual switch to an all-electric fleet—more than lived up to its name. A heavy-duty diesel truck most recently used by a Rutland-based field electrical maintenance team was smashed to smithereens to make way for a new all-electric Lion stake body truck.
The event’s name alone was spectacular enough that it drew a number of different kinds of spectators, running the gamut from compelled media and company representative types to the curious onlooker.
One precocious child even had his mother pull him out of school to witness all the smash and bombast, hoping to signify a larger commitment to ensuring a habitable planet on which said youngster might grow up to make their own spectacular, smashing life.
“What an amazing symbol of this first big step to electrify our entire field fleet—crushing a fossil fuel truck!” roared Tiana Smith, GMP’s head of Electrification, feasting her eyes on the GHR demolition team of Steve Heffernon and his dog Brandy as they used their tractor to smash up the old truck six ways from Sunday.
“This new all-electric truck and an all-electric line truck on its way will displace about 100 tons of carbon emissions per year, all while making the grid more flexible and resilient and reducing costs for all GMP customers through vehicle-to-grid (V2G) charging,” said Smith as the old truck popped and hissed, shooting a mysterious effluvium into the air behind her, inching closer to its diesel-y grave.
According to Montpelier’s climate collective, Energy Action Network, driving with fossil fuels is the largest source of carbon pollution in Vermont, making up about 40% of all carbon pollution. This means that anytime consumers and business switch to electric versus fossil fuels, they can do their part to help Vermont meet its climate goals.
Vermont provided a grant of about $915,000 in VW settlement funds to help launch GMP’s fleet-wide switch away from fossil fuel, and GMP will gather data for the state on truck performance and charging and emissions reductions.
The stake body (aka Lion) truck has 200 miles of range. The trucks will reduce both carbon and noise pollution and will aid in a 60% reduction in maintenance and an 80% drop in fuel costs.
GMP will further help to reduce costs by about $100,000 for all GMP customers with V2G charging, allowing the truck batteries to share energy with the grid during peak usage times.
A substation operations worker for GMP who has been driving trucks for 25 years, Roger Bathalon, was on hand to see the old diesel truck martyred for the EV cause, though he said he wasn’t sad to see it go as he will be driving the new truck regularly. “The new truck is pretty cool. There’s a lot of pick up, and it has a real smooth and quiet ride,” he said.
As for the child in the crowd, “It was loud!” they said. “Especially when the hood was crushed and—pfwwwww—the air flew out!”
