The Town of Nanton has increased their Electric Vehicle fleet by one.

On March 26, the Town announced that they had purchased a new Olympia Millenium Model E (Electric) Ice Resurfacer.

This new electric ice resurfacer will be ready for use for the 2024/2025 skating and hockey season.

This new ice resurfacer will produce less greenhouse gas emissions and exhaust than the decade-old one they are currently using. That's on top of drastically reduced operational and maintenance costs, as they don't need oil changes and their brakes are longer-lasting than other types of ice resurfacers.

The Town is expecting to see the operational costs drop to one-tenth of the current ice resurfacer's operational cost.

They received $47,700 in funding for the purchase from the Municipal Climate Change Action Centre, which is a partnership between Alberta Municipalities, Rural Municipalities of Alberta, and the Government of Alberta.

Any remaining costs associated with the Ice Resurfacer will be covered by the Municipal Sustainability Initiative program, which provides capital funding to municipalities from the Alberta Government.

"The Tom Hornecker Recreation Centre is an important hub in the community of Nanton and the addition of this new ice resurfacer is an innovative solution that will help to reduce energy costs and provide better air quality for all users of the facility," explained the town of Nanton's Chief Administrative Officer Neil Smith in a media release from March 26. "Once we take receipt of the new Olympia, we will be putting out a vinyl wrap sponsorship opportunity to the business community."