BUYING


Grants and vehicle-to-grid unlock access to green money Written by Amanda Pampuro


This year, he received competitive proposals from Blue Bird, IC Bus, the Lion Electric Company, and Thomas Built Buses. Overseeing a district 35 miles northwest of the coal-


W


fired Edwards Power Station, air quality is often on Farquer’s mind, along with cutting fleet emissions by going electric. “When you electrify these buses, it cleans the air your


kids, your drivers [and] everybody in the shop breathes,” Farquer said. “There’s immediate health benefits to that.” The main obstacle has always been getting the green


to go green. Electric school buses with charging infra- structure can exceed $350,000, compared to $90,000 to $150,000 for a diesel bus.


24 School Transportation News • AUGUST 2021


hen Tim Farquer, superintendent of Wil- liamsfield Schools in central Illinois, first put out an RFP for electric school buses in 2018, only one bus manufacturer returned a quote.


To help secure funding for bus electrification, Farquer


founded the Bus-2-Grid Initiative (B2G) with five other school districts running a combined 500 buses. Their first win secured $882,000 from a legal settlement with the power plant over air pollution violations to purchase electric buses for nearby Hollis Consolidated Grade School District and Pekin Public Schools District. Vehicle-to-grid, or V2G, is perhaps the most entic-


ing opportunity to Farquer because it offers a financing structure that lets the parking lot foot the bus bill. One of the biggest limitations for renewable solar and wind power is storage—batteries must provide power when the sun doesn’t shine, and the wind doesn’t blow. Electric school buses are not only equipped with hefty batteries, they’re also typically parked over nights, week- ends and holidays. “School buses are really interesting for us because they have pretty big batteries. You’re talking about 130-kilo-


into the Electric BUS DREAM


PHOTO CREDIT: BLUE BIRD CORPORATION


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