KUB has added four new hybrid bucket trucks to its fleet.
The utility says with the new trucks, crews can operate the boom without the engine running, and the hybrid vehicles reduce fuel consumption by 50% and lowers emissions.
They also have another benefit.
"One of the benefits is, of course, for the operator that you see today. It's safer and it's quieter. They can communicate back down to the ground crews on things they may need," said Chris Wilson, KUB.
KUB says grant money helped pay for the trucks.
In all, the utility has eleven hybrid vehicles.
By using them, KUB officials say it has reduced fuel consumption by more than 388-thousand gallons in the last five years and reduced emissions equal to 840 passenger cars.
