PERC Propane Mower Incentive Program Back in Time for Buying Season

The Propane Education & Research Council reopened online applications for the Propane Mower Incentive Program. Since it began in 2012, the program has helped commercial propane mower operators save up to $1,000 on the purchase of a new unit, and that’s without factoring in the long-term benefits of using propane.

“The incentive helps landscape contractors save on the upfront cost of a new propane mower, but the long-term savings contractors benefit from when operating a propane fleet can be tremendous, too,” said Jeremy Wishart, deputy director of business development at PERC. “Compared to gasoline and diesel equipment, propane mowers can not only reduce a contractor’s ongoing fuel costs, but they can also lead to less maintenance-related downtime. Beyond being a unique sales tool for equipment dealers and propane retailers, the incentive helps more contractors experience propane’s long-term benefits as well.”

With the Propane Mower Incentive Program, landscape contractors, facilities managers, municipal fleet directors — and even homeowners — can apply for incentives of $1,000 for the purchase of a new propane mower, or $500 to convert an existing machine with a qualified conversion kit.

Throughout the life of the program, more than 4,000 gasoline mowers have been swapped out of fleets in favor of propane across 43 states. Applications for more than 600 mower purchases and conversions were received during the last iteration of the program, which ran from October 2015 to April 2016.

Contractors who have switched their fleets to propane reported, on average, a 30 percent savings on the annual cost of fuel alone, on top of savings from the incentives. Many also reported that propane saved them time and money on refueling compared to the wasted time at gas stations and potential for fuel loss through spills, pilferage or degradation.

For equipment dealers, the Propane Mower Incentive Program also offers an easy way to introduce the topic of propane to customers looking to replace equipment at the end of the season. Dealers interested in offering incentive program materials to customers or in learning more about selling propane equipment can visit propane.com/commercial-landscape/propane-equipment-dealers.

Visit propane.com/mower-incentive to apply for the program. Contractors wanting to research the financial savings they might incur when switching to propane equipment can use PERC’s free Propane Mower Calculator at propanecostcalculator.com.

About PERC: The Propane Education & Research Council is a nonprofit that provides leading propane safety and training programs and invests in research and development of new propane-powered technologies. PERC is operated and funded by the propane industry. For more information, visit propane.com.