GreenPower Motor Company Inc.recently announced that four Type D BEAST school buses have been delivered to its West Virginia dealer. The buses for the Kanawha County School District were funded through round 2 of the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean School Bus Program.

Fulfilling Grant Obligations

The Clean School Bus Program  included an award of $18.565 million for seven school districts in West Virginia to deploy 50 GreenPower zero-emission school buses. This delivery fulfills the first four.

Grant County Public Schools is slated to receive their buses next and is currently working with Highland Electric Fleets to build out its charging infrastructure using funding from the grant. 

The buses are manufactured in South Charleston and distributed by GreenPower of West Virginia.

"We manufactured these first four BEAST school buses for the Clean School Bus Program grant in West Virginia and delivered them within 90 days of the contract being signed with the EPA," said GreenPower President Brendan Riley. "As stewards of public dollars that are being invested by the federal government in the transition to all-electric school buses, GreenPower and other American school bus manufacturers take our role serious to ensure timely delivery of safe, sustainable, and sensible school buses manufactured in the U.S. to school districts who are depending on them to provide a safe, healthy means of transportation for 25 million kids per day."

Spending Freeze Slows Down Deployment

The delivery of the buses was paused for a few weeks due to the spending freeze implemented by the Trump administration as the new EPA team evaluated program spending.

"As a result of the cooperative work done by West Virginia Senator Shelley Moore Capito with EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, our dealer was able to receive the round 2 grant funding for the school buses, and we were able to make these first deliveries almost immediately," Riley said. "Personally, I am pleased that GreenPower was able to work closely with the senator to ensure the release of the grant funds, allowing us to build the school buses with an American workforce with appropriate oversight by the Trump administration."

Senator Capito has discussed the need for administrative changes to the implementation of the Clean School Bus Program with Green Power and others in the industry. Proposed changes include awarding of funds through a competitive system instead of a random luck-of-the-draw lottery system.

"The round 2 West Virginia grant represents the intent Congress had when it created the CSBP. It is a well thought out approach that involved multiple school districts and school boards, the school bus OEM, infrastructure providers, utilities, parents and others in the planning," Riley continued. "When this type of approach is followed, and awards are based on merits and quantifiable results, the most effective use of taxpayer dollars is achieved."

Over the next few weeks, additional GreenPower buses will be delivered under the  grant as the company proceeds to fulfill the full deployment of 50 Type D BEAST and Type A Nano BEAST school buses.