Media Contact: Liam Condon, Electrification Coalition
liam@electrification.org
LANSING, MICH.—Today, the Biden-Harris Administration announced the recipients of the 2023 Clean School Bus Program funding opportunity from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). Of the $900 million awarded to over 530 school districts across the country, Michigan received approximately $25 million to purchase cleaner alternatives to diesel school buses—including 104 electric school buses (ESBs)—for 30 school districts. Grand Rapids School District, Kent Intermediate School District and Trenton Public Schools received the largest awards, enabling the purchase of ten or more ESBs each.
The news of the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program awardees follows yesterday’s announcement that the Michigan Department of Education (MDE), in collaboration with the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) and the Michigan Association of Pupil Transportation (MAPT), opened applications for the Michigan Clean Bus Energy Grant (formerly known as the Michigan Clean School Bus Program). The program, which is part of the state’s K-12 education budget that the EC worked to support in collaboration with World Resources Institute (WRI), and other partners, allocates $125 million to help replace Michigan’s oldest diesel school buses with new ESBs and other cleaner alternatives. The program will award select public school districts up to 70% of the cost of an ESB and the associated charging infrastructure; high-need school districts will be eligible to receive up to 90% of the total project costs.
Michigan’s engagement with federal funding opportunities and establishment of state investment programs has defined the state as a leader in clean transportation for students.
The EC’s Senior Director of Campaigns Aaron Viles issued the following statement :
“We’re excited to celebrate the launch of Michigan’s Clean Bus Energy Grant program, and can’t wait to see the impact it will have in combination with the funds school districts across the state received from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program. More electric school buses on Michigan’s roads translates to big fuel savings to schools while also dismantling oil’s near monopoly on our student transportation sector. Governor Whitmer, Michigan’s legislators, leaders at the Michigan Department of Education, Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, and in the nonprofit community and private sector have all championed the deployment of electric school buses in Michigan, and all deserve credit and kudos for the state’s clean school bus leadership.”
###
About the Electrification Coalition: The Electrification Coalition is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization that promotes policies and actions to facilitate the widespread adoption of plug-in electric vehicles (EVs) on a mass scale to overcome the economic, public health and national security challenges that stem from America’s dependence on oil. electrificationcoalition.org