SOMERS, N.Y. - The Somers Board of Education is backing a petition asking the state Public Service Commission to further study whether utilities will be able to support New York’s school bus electrification initiative.
Education Law §3638, enacted as part of the state’s 2022-23 budget, originally mandated that all new school bus purchases or leases be zero-emission vehicles beginning July 1, 2027.
Under Gov. Kathy Hochul’s plan to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, tens of thousands of fossil fuel-powered buses would be converted to rechargeable ones.
Some critics of the change have argued that it is not cost-effective and could also cause problems for districts with long bus routes, especially during the colder months.
That date was recently changed to July 1, 2032.
The law, as originally written, also required that all school buses in operation be zero-emission by July 1, 2035. That deadline was amended to July 1, 2040, a timeline that applies to fleets owned by both school districts and private transportation contractors.
Under the law, school districts must also submit annual progress reports to the PSC on the implementation of zero-emission buses.
Somers Central School District serves approximately 2,600 students and has a fleet of 50 school buses operated by a private contractor.
The Lower Hudson Education Coalition, the petitioner, describes itself as a “regional leadership hub dedicated to public education advocacy.”
It is a joint project of the Lower Hudson Council of School Superintendents and the school board associations of Westchester/Putnam, Dutchess, Rockland and Orange counties.
The LHEC is asking the PSC to initiate “a dedicated informational proceeding” to gather sufficient facts to determine whether utilities are prepared to deliver the distribution infrastructure necessary to support all-electric school bus fleets.
The Board of Education unanimously passed a resolution on May 26 authorizing the district to send a letter supporting the LHEC’s petition.
It noted that Somers’ school bus depot is served by New York State Electric & Gas, an investor-owned utility regulated by the PSC.
The board recognizes, the resolution said, that it has a legal and ethical obligation to protect district taxpayers while ensuring “that student transportation services remain reliable, safe, and fiscally sustainable throughout this transition.”
The district wants more information about issues such as the cost of utility-side and customer-side upgrades, timelines for securing new or upgraded electrical service, and the “adequacy of coordination with its serving utility.”
At this point, it cannot complete its Fleet Electrification Plan without “sufficient data regarding the infrastructure requirements, costs, and utility timelines necessary for responsible capital planning,” the resolution said.
Therefore, it added, there is an urgent need for “a transparent, Commission-led proceeding to produce the utility-specific information that districts require.”
There are also concerns that concentrating “large new electrical loads” at school bus depots may affect the “reliability and adequacy” of electrical service to surrounding homes, businesses and community facilities that share the same distribution infrastructure.
The board wants to ensure that the transition to electric school buses does not place “undue burdens on the broader community.”
A dedicated informational proceeding led by the PSC would, the resolution concluded, “provide the transparency, accountability, and utility-specific data necessary for school districts to plan effectively and responsibly for fleet electrification, and would establish enforceable timelines and a coordinated framework that the current ad hoc process lacks.”
By passing the measure, the Board of Education expressed its support for the LHEC’s petition and urged the PSC to initiate the informational proceeding “at the earliest opportunity.”
PROS, CONS
According to the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA), traditional diesel-fueled buses currently emit around 1.5 million tons of greenhouse gases annually.
Electrifying the state’s entire 45,000-bus fleet would have the equivalent climate impact of removing roughly 180,000 cars from the road, it said.
Eliminating toxic diesel fumes would significantly reduce children’s exposure to pollutants that trigger asthma and harm respiratory development, according to NYSERDA.
NYSERDA’s website also states that switching to electric school buses can generate up to $247,600 in climate and health benefits per bus.
“Electric school buses can travel 100-200-plus miles per charge — plenty of range for the average New York school bus route of 80 miles per day,” it states, noting that electric buses are “already in use in at least 49 states, including cold and hilly places like Colorado and Montana.”
Arguments against electric buses include high upfront purchase costs, limited daily range, charging downtime, complex maintenance requirements and reduced performance in extreme weather.
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