Two years ago, state leaders set an ambitious calendar to retire combustion engine buses — those iconic workhorses that ferry millions of kids to classes and field trips while getting about 7 miles per gallon.
State law now requires that by 2027, districts can no longer add combustion engine buses to their fleets. By 2035, all school buses in New York must run on a battery.
Gov. Kathy Hochul and other proponents say the change will reduce emissions that can harm kids’ health and contribute to pollution and climate change. Removing each school bus from the road is equivalent to taking four cars — along with their emissions — off the streets, according to the state.
So far, about a third of the state’s school districts are working with energy officials to map out their plans to go from fuel tanks to charging stations. About 100 electric school buses are already on the road, according to the state.
Yet unlike other recent and ambitious efforts to get New Yorkers to cut back on emissions and boost renewable energy use, this one comes with an unusual twist.
School district voters have the power to block the switch to electric buses. And some are doing just that.
Traditionally, school districts borrow to buy buses, a budgetary move that requires specific approval from local taxpayers. Normally, bus propositions sail through school district elections with little notice among the few voters who show up.
This year, Central New York voters in Baldwinsville and Mexico rejected proposals to buy electric buses. Across the state, voters in five districts actually nixed buying electric buses and instead approved buying traditional ones.
Even voters in progressive-leaning Ithaca said no to buying four electric buses. A few weeks later, they agreed to buy just two.
Not all voters are saying no. Voters in at least four districts, including Geneva, approved some electric bus purchases this spring. That’s according to the state association of school boards. Their list, though, doesn’t always specify whether a bus purchase is an e-bus purchase. Neither the state’s education department nor energy education office is tracking the votes.
Critics say the law requires too much costly change too quickly. Prices vary, but electric buses cost $250,0000 to $400,000, according to the state. At the high end, that’s more than double the cost of a traditional bus. Then there’s the costs of retrofitting bus garages, adding chargers and amping up electric networks.
Plus, there’s the challenge of getting the kids where they need to be.
Baldwinsville resident Wendy Van Der Water voted no in May to buying electric buses for this suburban district northwest of Syracuse. She says she has questions about how the electric buses will fare on longer routes in cold weather.
“There are a lot of ways we can achieve green energy with windmills and other steps, without mandating everyone have electric school buses,” she said. “The cost of changing the whole fleet will raise our taxes through the roof.”
Others agree, and there’s an effort in Albany to pass new legislation to slow down the transition.
“I’m not surprised residents are voting this down,” said Assemblyman Will Barclay, R-Pulaski, the Assembly’s minority leader. “We don’t have the infrastructure in place yet, and the numbers are all over the place for how much it will all cost.”
State and utility officials say that with government grants and vouchers, school districts can lower the upfront costs down to meet — if not drop below — the longer-term cost of buying and maintaining conventional buses.
Some superintendents question that math. One says buying an e-bus is still about twice as much as a traditional one even with the extra help. Another says the supplemental money is running low before districts can get in line.
Yet the numbers are working for Alexandria Central School District in the North Country, a district with 460 students and 14 buses that is going full speed ahead with electric buses. Voters approved buying the first two in 2023, and two more are coming this summer.
As an early adopter, Alex Bay’s schools have won extra money and are making the transition work, said the district’s transportation official, Delmar Lambert.
“We got ahead of it,” he said.
'THE CHALLENGE IS IN THE DETAILS'
The state mandate is one-size-fits-all for more than 600 school districts. That means a city district and a rural one must comply with the fleet changes no matter the length of bus routes or the harshness of winter.
Those variations matter: Electric school buses can go anywhere from 100 to 200 miles on a charge, depending on the size and age of the battery. Colder weather can shorten the battery’s charge.
Plus, there are field trips and sporting events, which can include travel across county lines and down the New York Thruway. Even proponents say those longer outings challenge an electric bus’s ability to get students to games without waiting for hours at a charging station.
For a district like Westhill, with 1,900 students on the southwestern edge of Syracuse, electric buses would work. The district already has enough power available to charge its fleet of 40 buses, most of which make shorter trips, according to Superintendent Stephen Dunham.
“Idealistically it makes a lot of sense,” he said. “The challenge is the details and timeline for implementation.”
Districts like Central Square, which serves about 3,500 students across 220 square miles in three counties north of Syracuse, face those challenges plus two more: geography and power.
Central Square Superintendent Thomas Colabufo says it’s feasible to convert about a third of the district’s 80-bus fleet. Those 26 buses run shorter routes. And the district now has enough power to charge them, he said.
But transitioning the full fleet is much more complicated, he said.
Central Square’s longest route is about 234 miles a day — 117 each way. An electric bus takes about seven hours to charge, and the buses he’s looked at go about 120 miles.
Plus, some of his fleet does double duty with a quick turnaround, picking up older kids in the early morning before running a second route for elementary students. That doesn’t leave enough time to recharge before school starts, he said.
Then there’s this: To convert the full fleet, the district would need to increase its electrical grid supply of power by about 30 percent, Colabufo said.
“That’s very concerning,” he said, and one of the reasons district officials didn’t put an electric bus purchase before voters this year.
In Baldwinsville, the district gave voters a choice. It put electric buses and fuel-propelled ones on the ballot in May.
Voters rejected the e-buses 1,423 to 716. They approved buying 14 traditional ones by a vote of 1,429 to 708.
Baldwinsville Superintendent Joseph DeBarbieri said that even with the extra help from state and federal grants, the electric buses are still far more expensive.
Before the May vote, Baldwinsville was in line for $200,000 from the state to put toward one electric bus. That would have helped to pay the overall $575,000 cost for an electric bus and charging station, DeBarbieri said.
Still, that would leave the district with a $375,000 bill, he said. Traditional buses, he adds, cost about $150,000 to $175,000. The district applied for more money from the federal government but was turned down, he said.
DeBarbieri said some voters in his district have asked why the state didn’t start with hybrid buses. He and others say they think it’d be more realistic to start with other district vehicles, such as sedans and SUVs.
ELECTRIC BUS MONEY GOING FAST
Two years ago, New Yorkers approved an environmental bond act that included $500 million to help pay for the transition to non-emission buses.
Districts can apply for vouchers to help offset the costs of electric buses and charging stations on a first-come, first-served basis, according to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority, which is helping districts with the transition.
Westhill’s Dunham said that money from Albany, and another pot from Washington, is mainly for buying the first few buses. Over time, he said, that dries up and more of the costs fall on local taxpayers.
The federal money is going fast.
So far the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $3 billion to about 1,000 school districts nationwide to help buy 8,500 electric buses. That leaves about $2 billion in the EPA Clean School Bus program.
Schools are also tapping the state money. That $500 million under the Environmental Bond Act created the New York School Bus Incentive Program. About $40 million has been approved so far.
National Grid is working with about one-third of the state’s school districts to help them get ready for the changeover. Their fleet advisory service can assess a district’s needs and look at capacity and make charging recommendations. They also can estimate how much their electric bills will rise.
There is some encouraging news: Of the districts National Grid has studied, 75 percent have enough electrical capacity already to charge buses, said Leslie Vishwanath, who is leading the utility’s school bus transition effort.
That means a quarter do need upgrades. How much will that cost districts? Vishwanath acknowledged that can vary among districts and pinning down estimates for available grant money is hard.
Those uncertainties are causing anxiety for many local school leaders, she said.
“There is a sense among them of being overwhelmed,” she said.
For now, National Grid is recommending districts start with the shorter bus routes and worry about longer routes and field trips later.
“The technology is going to drastically improve by 2035,” she said. “So we don’t encourage you right now to be thinking about the field trips or the state championships, because we need time to build out the infrastructure.”
Private suppliers of electric buses are also helping districts navigate the transition.
Chittenango-based New York Bus Sales is expanding into Syracuse, a move fueled by the electric bus deadline.
Jeremy Johnston, the company’s sales manager, said he thinks with more education more districts will embrace the changes. He’s found some potential clients have misinformation, such as the e-buses weighing more than traditional ones and needing different mechanical lifts for maintenance.
He, too, encouraged districts to start with the shorter routes.
“The majority of routes will work and be within range,” he said. “Every district has their own obstacles, and we work with them to overcome those.”
A-BAY GETS ON BOARD
Officials at Alexandria Central School District started their electric bus journey in 2022 after discussion at a conference, according to Delmar Lambert, the district’s transportation supervisor.
They decided to accelerate and apply for an early round of federal money, he said.
“The first round was substantial,” he said. “I think a lot of districts thought the mandate might go away, so they didn’t apply right away.”
The district proposed buying two buses, each costing $466,000. Officials secured $375,000 for each bus, plus another $40,000 for infrastructure costs, he said.
That meant the district was on the hook for about $180,000 for the two new buses — about the cost of a conventional one. Voters approved the district’s first purchase in May 2023.
Those buses began operating in February. They are quiet and comfortable, Lambert said.
Lambert said the district expects to be able to convert most of their fleet.
But they still have a problem to solve. Some of their longer routes are 160 miles and their new e-buses can only hold a charge for 120 miles.
They could get a different electric bus with a larger charger, he said. But that would mean a larger investment and a more expensive charger, he said.
IF VOTERS SAY NO, THEN WHAT?
It’s unclear how districts will comply with the electric bus transition if more voters keep rejecting the purchases at the ballot box.
If voters say no, districts can lose the grant money lined up to buy the buses.
In the Marathon school district in Cortland County, voters rejected an electric bus purchase proposition by a 3 to 1 margin in 2023.
That meant the district had to forfeit the $1.185 million grant it received from the EPA Clean School Bus program to help pay for the buses. This year, the district proposed buying four diesel buses, which voters approved overwhelmingly.
A few weeks ago in Syracuse, Hochul defended the change, pointing out that a main goal is to limit students’ exposure to fuel emissions.
“I want to make sure people know we’re doing this primarily to protect our children,” she said.
But she acknowledged that message isn’t squaring with voters at the school district level.
“Voters don’t want to be told what to do,” Hochul said, adding that more education is needed to help districts move ahead with the change.
She also said the law, for now, stands with the 2035 deadline. Changing it is up to state lawmakers, she said.
Barclay, the Republican lawmaker, takes that as an encouraging sign to slow the transition.
“From where I’m sitting, that’s not a ‘No,’ ” he said. “We all know how quickly things can change.”
©2024 Advance Local Media LLC. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
