Three school districts in Minnesota are adding electric buses to their fleets thanks to more than $5.5 million from the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency, one of 70 recipients nationally to receive funding from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) Clean Heavy-Duty Vehicles Grant Program.

In addition to the grant, portions of the Volkswagen Settlement will provide funding for 19 electric school buses to districts in Osseo, Bloomington, and White Bear Lake. The districts were selected based on their designation as disadvantaged communities by the EPA.

The buses are being purchased through North Star Bus Lines, LLC in Maple Grove, which has previously purchased Lion Electric buses for the Osseo school district.

Benefits and Barriers to Electric School Buses

Minnesota is receiving more than $12.7 million for zero-emission heavy-duty vehicles to help slow climate change, reduce air pollution, and advance environmental justice in the state.

Costs remain one of the biggest barriers to adopting electric school buses, with a single bus costing between $350,000 and $400,000 on average. In addition, schools must purchase charging infrastructure, which further increases the costs.

While the initial cost of an electric school bus is high, the long-term savings can add up, with each bus estimated to save $430 in fuel per month. In addition, each electric bus reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 140 tons.

Bringing Buses to the Districts

Districts are eager to lower operational costs while maintaining efficient transportation.

“We want to keep costs in the classroom and not out on the school buses,” said Troy Schreifels, director of transportation, security, and emergency management for Osseo Area Schools.

The Osseo, Bloomington, and White Bear Lake school districts have committed to environmental initiatives and are choosing to be early adopters of electric school buses.

“We also want to reduce our carbon footprint and contribute to our sustainability efforts,” said Tim Wald, assistant superintendent for finance and operations at White Bear Lake School District.

This opportunity marks the first step into electric buses for White Bear Lake. Wald is optimistic about the potential of electric buses to provide a safer, more sustainable form of transportation.

“It’s an incredible opportunity to add a clean-burning vehicle to our bus fleet,” Wald said. “We’ve been interested in adding electric buses, and we can use this opportunity to learn from them and possibly add more in the future.”

Both Osseo and Bloomington have already introduced electric buses and hope to continue expanding their fleets. Bloomington has the necessary charging infrastructure in place to allow for this kind of expansion.

Osseo recently shifted from diesel to propane and propane buses currently account for about 75% of its fleet. While electric buses only account for 10% of their fleet, Schreifels sees this as the next natural step.

“It’s my job to find the most efficient, cost-effective, and carbon-neutral fleet I can,” Schreifels said. “Before these grants became available, having any EVs in our fleet would’ve been out of reach.”

The hope is that the electric buses will result in long-term cost savings due to fewer parts, lower maintenance, and reduced fuel costs.