An Arkansas school district selected for a federal rebate to help fund the purchase of an electric school bus has declined to move forward with the purchase, while another district selected for the program is trying to decide if it can afford the purchase due to the high purchase price and infrastructure costs that have posed an obstacle to the adoption of electric vehicles across the country.
The Batesville School District, which declined its spot in the rebate program, was set to receive $365,000 as part of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program for an electric school bus. The rebate program offered to provide a combined total of $11.03 million in rebates for the purchase of 36 electric school buses in Batesville and three other select Arkansas districts.
However, the reimbursement would only partially cover the costs associated with purchasing the charging infrastructure associated with the vehicle, leaving the district responsible for several tens of thousands of dollars in remaining costs. This proved unpopular with Batesville residents, said school district spokeswoman Megan Renihan.
Community members immediately voiced opposition when news broke of the district’s selection for the rebate, Renihan said, not because the new vehicle was electric, but because of a multimillion-dollar construction project underway for a new cafe and center. of fine arts. that the district did not have the money to finish due to inflation.
“They didn’t like that we had an electric bus,” Renihan said of the public reaction.
“They think, ‘Oh, well, if you’re getting $365,000 and you can’t even finish this building, why don’t you apply it to that?’ Well, that’s not how a grant works.”
Unlike a traditional grant, which would fund the purchase directly, the rebates offered by the agency require recipients to purchase the buses first and then submit purchase orders to receive money from the agency.
Other factors also influenced the decision, Renihan said.
The district normally performs bus maintenance in-house, Renihan said.
But if the electric bus ever needed repairs, it would need to be towed to Russellville, nearly two hours away, increasing maintenance costs. Additionally, the district purchased 13 new buses during the pandemic.
“It was also our response to say ‘Well, we already have a fairly new fleet of buses, so why accept something that will be an additional financial burden, even if it’s 10 years away?’ “It’s the perception that we agree to something when we don’t even have the money to finish a project we already have going,” Renihan said.
Farmington Public Schools, another district selected to receive the state’s second-largest rebate, is currently in the “investigation phase” to determine whether it will move forward with purchasing the six buses it was approved for under the program. refund, Superintendent Jon Laffoon. saying.
The district received approval for $1.22 million in reimbursements.
“The thing about Farmington is we have a small acreage district, about 41 square miles, and most of our roads are paved and not too hilly,” Laffoon said.
“These buses are perfect for us. I know there are some additional rebates for charging infrastructure, I’m trying to figure out what that amount would be and then also figure out what, there is a tax credit available for clean buses.”
As with Batesville, the additional costs the district must shoulder may prove too high to justify, since the $1.22 million reimbursement will not cover the full cost of the six buses and associated charging infrastructure, Laffoon said .
By Laffoon’s estimate, the district will still need to cover a $1 million capital cost after the rebate has been applied.
The cost of the buses is about $400,000 each, Laffoon said, and the reimbursement will only cover about half that amount.
“If we can spread that (the capital cost) over two or three years, that’s the other thing I asked the EPA, then it would be feasible for us, but we could end up not being able to do it or, you know, we could accept (the reimbursement) for three buses or two buses. I’m looking at all those factors, trying to make it viable for us,” Laffoon said.
Laffoon said they are currently waiting for the agency’s response.
EPA has a few options for getting unclaimed money from the rebate program.
“If a selectee does not complete the remaining steps required at the beginning of the refund process, drops out, or is deemed ineligible, the selectee will be removed from the program,” Joe Robledo, a spokesperson for the Protection Agency’s Region 6, wrote in an email. Environmental.
“Those funds may be offered to other 2023 applicants on the waitlist… However, EPA may choose to use the returned funds for future CSB funding opportunities instead of awarding funds to applicants on the waitlist.” “.
Waitlisted applicants can be removed from the list up to 90 days after the agency’s initial notification of selections, Robledo said, and the process to reallocate those funds will follow the program’s 2023 guidance.
Quitman Public Schools was also selected for federal reimbursement.
Its superintendent, Dennis Truxler, said this is the first time the district has been selected to receive clean bus money.
“We wrote the grant last year, but we didn’t get it,” Truxler said. With this year’s prize, $820,000, they will be able to obtain reimbursements for four new electric buses.
“We have 4 older, high mileage buses that need to be replaced, so receiving the grant saves the district hundreds of thousands of dollars,” Truxler wrote in an email.
A spokesperson for the Little Rock School District, which will receive $8.62 million from the reimbursement program, said in a written statement that the 25 electric buses the district plans to purchase will primarily serve the district’s special needs students.
The district said it is partnering with Entegrity, “a local energy services company,” to help with preparations for the vehicles, which the district says will hit the roads between late 2025 and early 2026.
“The District is grateful for this opportunity to participate in a program that promotes a more sustainable environment, benefiting the future of our students,” district spokesperson Pamela Smith wrote in an email.
“Today’s announcement is good news for Arkansas children, especially those in underserved areas who are often exposed to more air pollution and health risks like asthma,” said Agency Region 6 Administrator of Environmental Protection, Earthea Nance, in the May 30 press release.
“Replacing diesel-powered buses with clean school buses reduces harmful emissions and improves air quality in communities across the country.”
Fumes from diesel buses can contain known carcinogens, along with other harmful gases that can harm students riding them.
The Electric School Bus Initiative website says that while the initial upfront cost of purchasing an electric school bus is higher than that of a diesel-powered school bus, the fuel savings help offset that cost.
However, without tax credits, rebates, and other ways to reduce the cost, it is still more expensive to operate an electric school bus compared to a diesel school bus.
According to an analysis conducted by the initiative in May 2023, before the current version of the clean bus rebate program, if a school district claims a $362,000 rebate for an electric bus, which includes a $10,000 rebate for a charger, then The total cost of ownership of that electric bus is around $208,000.
Comparatively, it says the total operating cost of a diesel-powered bus is $414,000, including fuel, insurance and maintenance costs, while it would be $530,000 for an electric bus if no rebates, tax credits or other claims are made. cost offsets. .
Diesel-powered buses from 2010 or earlier that are replaced through the rebate program must be scrapped, preferably by cutting a nine-square-inch hole in the engine block and destroying one of the buses’ chassis rails, according to written documents. by the agency.
Districts that do not have 2010 or older buses can replace newer model year buses, which can be sold or donated instead of scrapped if the district chooses.
Despite heavy federal spending to encourage electric vehicle adoption (nationally through the EV tax credit championed by President Joe Biden and in Arkansas through federal grants to expand the state’s charging network), the Adoption of electric vehicles in Arkansas has been slow.
According to figures updated by the U.S. Department of Energy in May, there are 6,572 electric vehicles registered in the state of Arkansas, compared to its estimated population of about 3 million.
Other southern states, such as Alabama and Louisiana, have similarly low EV-to-population ratios.
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