Clean-energy supporters say electric buses could supply power back to the grid when not transporting kids
By TOM JOHNSON, NJ Spotlight
As the state tries to electrify its transportation sector, one focus has been on electric school buses. But there hasn’t been much success largely because of the larger upfront costs of purchasing electric vehicles instead of diesel buses.
Clean-energy advocates contend, however, that school districts could offset those costs by having electric vehicles supply power, stored in the vehicles’ batteries, back to the regional electricity grid when they are not transporting students to and from school.
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If so, that could speed up the rollout of electric school buses in New Jersey, according to environmental groups who are urging school districts to stop purchasing diesel buses and transition to all-electric buses by 2030 in a new report.
“While electric buses can save and even earn money for schools over the lifespan of the bus, the initial price tag often presents a hurdle for cash-strapped districts,’’ said Hayley Berliner, a clean-energy associate for Environment New Jersey’s Research. & Policy Center.
The report, by Environment New Jersey and the New Jersey Public Interest Research Group’s Law and Policy Center, suggests school districts could recover those upfront costs and more, by using idle school buses to send stored energy back to the grid at times of peak demand, and get paid for that. Those times occur typically when buses are finished delivering students home in late afternoon and early evening.
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