Working to achieve energy resilience isn’t just about implementing electric school buses into a district fleet. It also keeps students and communities served during natural disasters and power outages.
An information-packed webinar examined U.S. electric school bus adoption rates and challenges while sharing stories of several school districts that achieved energy resilience for emergency preparedness and low-emissions goals.
Numbers Increasing
Marcus Gilmore, senior advisor of clean mobility strategy for webinar sponsor ENGIE North America, shared on Wednesday that over 12,000 electric school buses (ESBs) serving approximately 230,000 students across 49 U. S. states were awarded, ordered, delivered, or are operating as of this June. The stats are courtesy of the World Resources Institute Electric School Bus Initiative data dashboard, which indicates that 12,241 ESBs were committed as of Oct. 1.
California unsurprisingly leads with 3,110 buses. New York, Maryland, Florida, Virginia and Texas each have anywhere from 385-764 buses. Georgia, Oregon, Oklahoma, Mississippi and South Carolina are in the game with over a hundred buses each.
“This leadership is driven by state policies and funding programs,” he explained. “Understanding these factors can help improve adoption rates.”
The rollout will continue as California, Connecticut, Delaware, Maine, Maryland, New York, and Washington state all have binding school bus transition goals while other states have non-binding goals or have ESB-promoting legislation in the works.
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Sources of funding include the historic U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program that has awarded $2.8 billion to school districts to date, with more funding to come. In the latest round, applicants can request funds for 25 to 50 buses, doubled from the previous round. Eligible replacement buses can be electric, CNG or propane, and there are scrappage requirements for old buses.
For better acceptance chances, he encouraged districts to have a complete, detailed application that focuses on community improvement.
Gilmore also highlighted regional funding programs in New York, New Jersey, Texas, Illinois, Colorado and California.
EPA also expects 70 percent of the $932 million available through the Clean Heavy Duty Vehicles Program to go toward school buses.
Neal Bartek, ENGIE’s project director of microgrids, noted that federal agencies and utilities can also help with funding for infrastructure projects.
Challenges & Solutions
Before ordering electric school buses, districts may face a lack of funding, charging infrastructure, or even of the awareness of the benefits of these vehicles. These, Gilmore said, can be solved with research, government funding and collaboration with utilities.
“It’s crucial to have a clear strategy and to make sure you have effective stakeholder engagement when you’re in the initial stages of planning for your fleet transition,” Gilmore said.
He also advised collaborating with utilities “frequently and early.”
He added that it’s important to know details like which chargers will fit with which buses and what routes the buses will be running, so the correctly specified equipment can be procured. “Definitely build flexibility into your plan,” he said, since this technology is rapidly developing.
Gilmore shared that some tech schools can help train district staff on ESBs and that ENGIE is available to help as well.
ENGIE can help districts find and apply for grants they may have missed, he added.
School Districts Seek Energy Resilience
Neal Bartek, ENGIE’s project director of microgrids, dove into the topic of energy resilience, which is defined as the ability to withstand and rapidly recover from power outages and continue operating energy-dependent services. He explained that a resilient power system reduces the likelihood of long-duration outages, limits the scope and impact of outages when they do occur, and rapidly restores power after an outage.
Driving this demand is climate change and natural disasters like Hurricanes Helene and Milton that recently struck Florida, increasing energy demands, cybersecurity concerns, decarbonization goals like the U.S. Inflation Reduction Act, technology advancements in renewable energy and batteries, and more.
Sustainable microgrids are a large part of this conversation, Bartek said. In a school transportation setting, the infrastructure typically consists of onsite solar photovoltaic (PV) generation, battery energy storage, a source of backup generation, smart chargers, and integrated microgrid controller.
When the grid is operating normally, these can be used to lower utility costs, he explained. When the grid is disrupted, they function independently to continue to power necessary components like buses and buildings.
He reviewed the situation of Santa Barbara Unified School District in Southern California, where schools served as safe havens during the Thomas Fire in December 2017. To better prepare for the future, district staff started looking into energy resiliency solutions to preserve critical energy loads during emergencies and power outages.
ENGIE’s comprehensive solar PV and microgrid solution was selected with the company completing system design, installation and maintenance. This was financed by a 28-year, no money down, Power Purchase Agreement, where ENGIE maintains ownership and maintenance responsibilities of the system.
Santa Barbara USD now has the benefits of operating critical facilities during power outages, backing up lighting, food storage, data and communication systems; reducing its utility bills with about 90 percent of the district’s annual energy needs met by solar; and having expert operations and maintenance handled by ENGIE.
The El Dorado Union High School District (EDUHSD) serves approximately 7,000 high school students in central California. Increasing prevalence of wildfires in the county has led to utility-mandated public safety power shutoff events.
EDUHSD had previously successfully mitigated its rising electricity costs by partnering with ENGIE to install solar PV panels on its parking shade structures. It next retrofitted three schools with LED lighting to reduce energy consumption and turned two campuses into sustainable microgrids by adding solar PV panels, battery energy storage, and a diesel generator which only kicks in when battery levels fall below 20 percent.
“The district’s schools can operate regardless of utility outages and can support the local community as a place of shelter and access,” Bartek shared.
He confirmed that EDUHSD achieved $6.4 million in net cost savings over the life of the project, a 77 percent reduction in consumption of electricity from the grid, and the carbon emissions reduction equivalent to removing 120 cars from the road.
“The ability to create a predictable environment where we can open and power our schools, and keep our students in class, regardless of what is happening with the grid, is wonderful,” said Superintendent Ron Carruth.
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Located in northern San Diego County, San Marcos Unified School District serves 19,500 students in a 55-square mile territory that extends into four cities. In planning for an electric bus fleet, district officials needed to ensure continuity of operations during emergencies and other grid interruptions.
The district partnered with ENGIE to install 40 ESB chargers with smart charging software, electrical infrastructure for 35 future chargers, onsite solar PV and battery energy storage, and microgrid controls and backup generation. Bartek said this resulted in a $40 million net energy cost savings, including 46 percent reduction in electricity costs.
LED lighting, battery energy storage, and HVAC mechanical replacements were also installed.
“There are a lot of incentives out there. I got really lucky finding ENGIE. They’ve been a great partner to work with,” stated Executive Director of Transportation Mike Sawyer.
Bartek noted that energy resilience can be used to provide food, shelter and warmth for displaced residents or emergency service providers.
He also reviewed factors ENGIE needs to know when planning and sizing an energy resiliency system, such as what the current infrastructure is like, how much load districts need backed up, for how long, and how fiscally conscious they need to be.
