Electric School Buses Are Flipping the Traditional Electricity Model on Its Head

From San Francisco to Chicago to Fairfax, Va., electric buses are helping school districts reduce their carbon footprints and protect the lungs of their young riders. Unlike more popular transit options, electric school buses provide great opportunities to reshape the electric grid without disadvantages such as low range or demand at peak times. Yet, it is not school districts but electric utilities that are leading the charge in reshaping how America’s kids get to school.

Why electric school buses

In the fight to mitigate climate change in the United States, activists have pressured state governments and electric utility companies to adopt less carbon-intensive technologies (“renewables”) to generate power. According to the National Conference on State Legislatures, 29 states have adopted a renewable portfolio standard mandating the amount of electricity that public utility companies must generate from renewable power sources, such as wind and solar.

With more states adopting renewable portfolio standards and other policies to combat climate change, a leading source of carbon emissions is now in the spotlight: transportation. According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, in 2017, nearly 29 percent of the country’s carbon emissions were attributed to the transportation sector. This sector includes the United States’ nearly 500,000 school buses — 95 percent of which run on diesel fuel.

Beyond their impact on the environment, diesel buses may also have an adverse impact on students. Studies have shown a link between the amount of diesel exhaust children are exposed to while riding the bus and their health and academic performance. Given that nearly 25 million students ride the bus every day to school, the nation faces a big problem that demands a solution.

School districts are not the only ones pushing for change

Although students might directly benefit from a switch away from diesel, it is often not school districts nor parents who advocate for electric school buses. Instead, electric utilities are making the push. Why? As electric utilities have adapted to using more renewable energy, they have had to find means of storing that power and sharing the costs. In the process, they have found an opportunity to reshape the electrical grid while solving the problem of diesel buses. Electric school buses, unlike other electric vehicles in the public transit sector, are used only before and after the school day. That means that for many hours the buses are sitting idle, especially around times of peak energy demand, such as dinnertime. So, for public utilities looking for giant batteries to store and feed power back into the grid at peak times, school buses are a great tool.

In California, regulators and Pacific Gas and Electric Company are experimenting with the use of electric buses as “big batteries” that can plug back in to the state’s electric grid on demand.  There is a chance that one day electric utility companies will pay public school districts to store their electricity before it is used.   

Across the state of Virginia, school districts recently entered into partnerships with the electric utility company Dominion Energy to acquire at least 50 electric school buses by the end of 2020 and potentially 1,000 electric school buses by 2025. According to the company, 1,000 buses would be able to store and feed back to the electrical grid enough power for about 10,000 homes for five hours. Dominion will pay about $13.5 million for the first 50 buses, and it will also cover the cost of building out the necessary charging infrastructure. In return, the electric utility will gain access and rights to the bus’s vehicle-to-grid batteries as needed. In an interview, Marie Steele, Principal at e-centricity, an energy consultancy, said:

“This move by electric utilities is also about customer satisfaction and retention. As energy becomes cheaper and more competitive, they are looking for ways to create unique value for their customers. In this case it is about investing on behalf of what is usually one of their largest customers, public school districts.”

Partnerships with school districts help electric utilities control their own costs by sharing the expense and investment in large batteries that can satisfy multiple needs. For school districts, the estimated long-term savings of operating and maintaining an electric bus is $6,400 per year when compared to a diesel equivalent. This creates a win-win situation for all parties.

Costs and broad implications

The high up-front purchase cost of new electric buses is the main reason cash-strapped school districts have resisted taking a more active role in reducing their transportation emissions. Even with the potential savings of reduced fuel and maintenance costs, a single electric bus can cost $200,000 more than a typical diesel school bus. Many school districts, such as those around the Chicago area, have funded electric bus pilot programs through contributions provided by the recent Volkswagen emissions cheating settlement. But with almost a half a million school buses on the road, this is not a sustainable funding model. School districts and states are more than happy to have electric utility companies step in to help cover a portion of the bill. 

For more on the transition to electric school buses, see Do Electric School Buses Have an Impact in the Classroom? 

Featured photo: cc/(DavidPrahl, photo ID: 1092429994, from iStock by Getty Images)