Tiburon gets $24M grant to electrify Angel Island ferries
The funding comes two years after the state announced that all short-distance ferries must be emissions-free by December 2025.
Tiburon has been awarded a $24 million grant to electrify the Angel Island ferry fleet.
The funding from the California Air Resources Board will go toward converting the Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry Co.’s three boats to fully electric vessels. That will help the company meet a state mandate to make short-run ferries zero emissions by the end of 2025.
The Town Council voted unanimously to accept the grant at its meeting on Wednesday.
“This is historic, momentous,” Mayor Alice Fredericks said.
The work includes expanding the dock for charging equipment, installing solar panels and upgrading the Pacific Gas & Electric Co. grid.
Town Manager Greg Chanis said the grant covers four main projects. Two involve propulsion conversions from diesel to electric on two of the vessels. Another involves charging and grid upgrades on land.
The other project involves selling the 100-passenger Tamalpais ferry and buying a new 135-passenger catamaran. The new vessel will be about 75 feet long and allow the company to provide high-speed service with no carbon footprint.
The town applied for the grant in December and learned about the award in April. The decision comes two years after the state announced that all short-distance ferries must be emissions-free by December 2025.
The Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry Co. carries about 100,000 passengers per year. The ferry service also offers whale watches, private charters and sunset cruises. The local, family-run business has been operating since 1959.
Vice Mayor Holli Thier praised Maggie McDonogh, owner of the ferry service, for her hard work in a tough business. She said the collaboration between the business and the town is an example of what can be accomplished with teamwork.
“You’re putting Tiburon on the map,” Thier said.
Thier said the grant puts the town ahead of other areas in reducing carbon emissions.
“Once again Tiburon is setting the standard for climate goals,” she said.
Graham Balch, the chief executive officer of Green Yachts, the company doing the vessel electrification work, said the grant is an exemplary partnership. He said the next few years implementing the changes will be difficult, and that the funding was only the first step.
“This project is so amazing, not just leading the nation in marine electrification, which Maggie is doing, but this is one of the most extraordinary public-private partnerships that we are part of,” Balch said.