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Government awarding millions to Maine schools for electric buses

Thirteen Maine school districts are receiving millions of dollars in electric bus rebates under a new federal program.

MAINE, USA — Nearly 400 school districts spanning all 50 states and Washington, D.C., along with several tribes and U.S. territories, are receiving roughly $1 billion in grants to purchase about 2,500 “clean” school buses under a new federal program.

Thirteen of those school districts are in Maine.

President Joe Biden's administration is making the grants available as part of a wider effort to accelerate the transition to zero-emission vehicles and reduce air pollution near schools and communities.

The 2022 rebate program will fund approximately 2,500 school bus replacements, according to the Environmental Protection Agency.

Here are the maximum funding amounts for each Maine school district receiving funding:

Wells-Ogunquit Community School District

  • Buses: 11
  • Funding: $4,345,000

Dayton Public Schools

  • Buses: 4
  • Funding: $1,580,000

Winthrop Public Schools

  • Buses: 4
  • Funding: $1,580,000

Pleasant Point School District

  • Buses: 3
  • Funding: $1,095,000

RSU 57

  • Buses: 2
  • Funding: $790,000

RSU 12

  • Buses: 2
  • Funding: $790,000

RSU 20

  • Buses: 2
  • Funding: $790,000

Castine Public Schools

  • Buses: 1
  • Funding: $395,000

East Range Community School District

  • Buses: 1
  • Funding: $395,000

RSU 83

  • Buses: 1
  • Funding: $395,000

Southwest Harbor Public Schools

  • Buses: 1
  • Funding: $395,000

Waite Public Schools

  • Buses: 1
  • Funding: $395,000

Mount Desert Community School District

  • Buses: 1
  • Funding: $395,000

The EPA said the amount of funding that will be disbursed after a school district submits its Payment Request Form may be lower than these maximum amounts because the funds to be disbursed are based on actual bus and charging infrastructure costs, as supported by purchase orders.

RELATED: Government awarding $1 billion to schools for electric buses

In September of 2021, Mount Desert Island High School was the first school in Maine to have an electric bus, thanks to a grant from the Volkswagen Emissions Fraud Settlement.

After one year, the school shares its opinions on how the ride has been. The school's operations manager, Eric Hann, said the experience has been smooth, despite a learning curve and the occasional range anxiety. 

"There are some hiccups, we had some hiccups in the beginning but we're running very smooth now," Hann said. 

Initially, the school faced some repairs for the bus and the realization that long field trips were not viable with the electric buses due to the restriction of miles on a single charge and lack of charging stations. 

However, other positives have emerged. According to an analysis done by the Vermont Energy Investment Corporation, the Lion electric bus saved over 30,000 pounds of greenhouse gas emissions in less than a year, and ranked three times as efficient as its diesel-engine counterpart.

 "We've saved twenty-four hundred gallons of diesel fuel and the associated carbon emissions and my lungs," bus driver Andrew Keblinsky said. "So I like it. I like that bus." 

RELATED: Mount Desert Island High School recaps one year with an electric school bus

Keblinsky has been driving diesel buses for fourteen years, and now drives electric. With his route, which he says can be rough during the winter months, he can answer the question many are wondering about:

"[If] Electric bus going to perform as well, traction wise and braking wise as bus two, which was a brand new Thomas bus, and yeah, it does," Keblinsky said. 

Others are eyeing the success, with a handful of schools reaching out to MDI for advice on making the switch, according to Hann. Just this past week, Camden-Rockport schools debuted its electric school bus, ready to hit the road in a few days. 

Only about one percent of the nation’s 480,000 school buses were electric as of last year, but the push to abandon traditional diesel buses has gained momentum in recent years. Money for the new purchases is available under the federal Clean School Bus Program, which includes $5 billion from the bipartisan infrastructure law President Joe Biden signed last year.

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