By Dave Newman
Alongside an Energy Performance Contract (EPC) Project, School Bus Electrification Can Provide Additional Savings and Health Benefits
While the focus of an energy performance contract (EPC) is on recovering energy costs and applying them toward building modernization, recent news from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health points to the energy savings, environmental impact and student health benefits of modernizing and electrifying school buses.
According to the study:
Replacing an average diesel school bus in the U.S. fleet in 2017 with an electric one resulted in $84,200 in total benefits per individual bus. Each electric school bus emitted 181 fewer metric tons of carbon dioxide than its diesel counterpart, amounting to $40,400 worth of climate benefits. Meanwhile, each electric school bus was associated with $43,800 in health savings, from less air pollution and reduced rates of mortality and childhood asthma.
The benefits are even stronger in urban school districts and low-income communities, which often operate older diesel bus fleets, where the study found that there was a disproportionate amount of air pollution and associated illness.
So, why hasn’t every school made the leap to EV buses? Cost. There are an estimated half million diesel school buses in operation across the U.S. and the associated costs to either replace or retrofit every one is enormous.
EPA Clean Bus Program has 2 years left to a 5-year
funding window of $5 billion
The EPA Clean Bus Program has two years left to a five-year funding window of $5 billion for replacing or retrofitting school buses. That amount can only cover a very small (3%) amount of the total diesel buses in the U.S.
What is needed now is the expansion of the rules governing energy performance contracts or new programs that will enable school districts to replace or retrofit EV bus fleets as part of an overall energy savings project. For example, in New York State, the Environmental Bond Act has made over $500 million in funding available for school bus electrification by public school districts and contracted fleet operators. These programs offer a start for a cleaner, more healthy school transportation fleet in the future. Plus, as we’ve noted before, school bus electrification and solar PV can go hand-in-hand.
Want to learn more about energy efficiency funding opportunities for your school district? Contact Energia today for a discussion about how your district can take advantage of these opportunities for savings.