The EPA is offering a new grant for electric school buses. (Tribune File Photo)
The American Environmental Protection Agency is offering a new grant to provide electric-powered school buses to qualified schools.
The 2022 Clean School Bus Rebates Program will distribute $500 million in rebates to school districts nationwide to replace existing school buses with either low emission buses or zero-emission electric ones. The program has teamed up with DTE Energy to help get the word out about the grant and make the application process easier.
According to members of DTE's Charging Forward team, who are directly involved in the program, the focus of the program is to enable school districts to acquire new low- or zero-emission buses to replace existing school buses, which are generally diesel-powered.
Electric school buses, according to them, would help schools reduce tailpipe pollution and greenhouse gas emissions. It would also reduce fuel and maintenance costs, which would be a major help in a time of $5 pump prices.
If selected, the EPA can provide up to $375,000 per electric bus and up to $20,000 per bus for charging infrastructure. The installation of the chargers would be done by a licensed electrical contractor of the district's choice.
North Huron Schools superintendent Martin Prout said that the district is applying for the grant. He said that it could be useful not only on a daily basis, but also for long-term field trips to places like Lansing, which has charging stations in the city.
This wouldn't be the first time North Huron has tried a new source of fuel, as they have used biodiesel for farming vehicles in the past. Prout believes that if most vehicles will be using electricity in the future, then this could be an opportunity to be ahead of the curb.
"When you do a beta test like this, why wouldn't you try it?" he said.
Owendale-Gagetown Schools will be out of the running, due to their own buses being so recently replaced.
"At this time our fleet is too new to even consider it," said Superintendent Terri Falkenberg.
The same is true of Laker School District, since it has a regular schedule to replace its buses, according to Superintendent Brian Keim. The district won't need new buses until summer 2023.
While the Bad Axe district is in a similar situation, Superintendent Greg Newland said that the district would be open to the idea in the future, should the need arise.
"There would be several factors we would focus on if we were to seek this in the future — cost considerations on how much it would be to purchase with or without grant funds, as well as maintenance costs," he said.
Applications for the grant are currently open and close on Aug. 19.
Correction: Due to incorrect information, a previous version of this article stated that only buses 10 years and older could qualify for a trade-in.