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Rolling out support of green transportation
We're continuing to reduce the number of diesel school buses in Virginia's roads by helping school districts replace them with cleaner, more efficient electric buses. There are currently 50 electric school buses transporting students across 15 school districts while preventing almost 3 million pounds of carbon emissions.
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Transportation is the #1 source of carbon emissions in the U.S., and we're committed to reducing it in our communities. In 2019, we announced that we would partner with local Virginia school districts as they began replacing diesel buses in their fleets with electric models.
The first 15 localities have received a total of 50 buses and have already accumulated over 250,000 emission-free miles. Dominion Energy is currently providing fast-charging solutions to help school districts that receive electric school bus funding from federal and state grants. This ongoing initiative will continue to benefit our environment, our communities, our schools, and most importantly, our children.
We launched this nation-leading program to support Virginia school districts as they transition their school bus fleets from diesel to electric, which will improve air quality and the health of children in our communities. We're also exploring the battery storage capabilities of electric school buses to study how they can enhance reliability on our electric grid.
Electric school buses are 60% less expensive to operate and maintain, which means that schools can invest more in students, teachers, and learning opportunities. The buses are also free of emissions, making the air in and around the bus cleaner and safer for students, teachers, and staff.
More battery storage means better grid reliability and the potential to add even more renewable resources.
The largest source of greenhouse gases in the United States is transportation. By replacing one diesel school bus with an electric bus, 54,000 pounds of greenhouse gases are avoided per year.
An electric school bus acts as a giant battery, storing energy until it is needed. When energy demands are high or if energy resources are intermittent, the batteries in electric school buses can provide power to the grid to help meet current demands. However, getting this technology up and running requires a smarter grid, which we are working to build, thanks to the Grid Transformation and Security Act of 2018.
Costs for the first phase of 50 buses will be covered by our base rate, which means no additional costs to customers.
The application period for the first phase of the program is closed. For more information, please email us.
Each application received from a school district located within our Virginia electric service territory was carefully considered, and we selected interested schools based, among other factors, on the value of the batteries to the local grid in the school district's area.
The electric batteries that power the buses are warrantied to last for the life of the bus itself, about 15 years. After that, they can be installed in buildings to provide on-site battery storage.
The average school bus route across Virginia is approximately 80 miles per day. The Phase I electric bus models have a range between 115-150 miles, so a single charge is more than enough to run a typical daily route with additional mileage to spare.
For additional questions, please email us at ElectricSchoolBuses@dominionenergy.com.
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