Starting this year, hundreds of students in the Summit School District in central Colorado will find their ride to and from school is a whole lot quieter.
Thanks to four new electric buses and four fast chargers unveiled last week, the district is cruising into the clean energy future – a positive change for air quality and noise pollution. The buses will roll out in Keystone, Summit Cove, Silverthorne, Blue River and Breckenridge. The bus drivers, who cover 19 daily routes Monday through Friday, are excited about the shift.
“I feel like the students are safer,” said Alvaro Velazquez, who has been a bus driver for 14 years. “The buses don’t make as much noise, which is good for the kids.”
There are about half a million school buses in operation in the U.S., with the majority being diesel buses. Over its lifetime, a diesel bus emits 363 tons of greenhouse gases while an electric bus only emits 116 tons, according to the Environmental Defense Fund. The difference in emissions equals the annual electricity use of over 50 homes.
“Electric buses benefit communities by improving public health through reduced air and noise pollution, fostering environmental sustainability and offering financial advantages through lower operating and maintenance costs,” said Andrea Meyer-Pemble, Summit County School District’s transportation manager. “These benefits include cleaner air for residents, especially children, leading to fewer respiratory issues, a quieter urban environment and decreased greenhouse gas emissions that combat climate change.”
School districts play an important role in helping Xcel Energy achieve our clean energy vision, which includes enabling the charging infrastructure for 1.5 million electric vehicles (EVs) in the states we serve by 2035. Our goal is to provide zero-carbon energy for all vehicles in our service territory by 2050.
“Transportation is the largest source of greenhouse gas emissions in the United States, and we want to help our customers, community members and employees drive cleaner,” said James Wilder, Xcel Energy clean transportation manager. “Electrifying school buses directly supports Xcel Energy’s carbon reduction goals, and as we add more renewable energy to the power grid, charging electric buses becomes cleaner over time.”
Xcel Energy is committed to helping the states we serve, like Colorado, become leaders in clean transportation. Part of that commitment includes partnering with school districts like Summit to help them replace diesel buses with electric models affordably. By helping school districts replace diesel buses with electric ones, we’re not only cutting emissions — we’re creating healthier environments for children, investing in a cleaner future and making energy work better.
“One other benefit Xcel Energy is exploring through our electric school bus rebate program is vehicle-to-grid technology,” Wilder said. “This would turn electric buses into mobile energy storage units by using surplus solar and wind power for backup during power outages.”
Like Xcel Energy, Summit School District values sustainability. The district considered numerous factors before investing in electric school buses. In addition to ensuring the electric buses could traverse rural, mountain roads and withstand harsh winter conditions, the district needed to find funding. A new electric school bus can cost about $460,000 compared to a $220,000 rear-engine transit bus, according to Meyer-Pemble.
In total, Summit received $1.1 million in rebates from Xcel Energy for its four electric school buses and four charging stations — the infrastructure at no cost to the district.
“We are so grateful, from the bottom of our hearts,” Meyer-Pemble said of the funding. “This is a new beginning of student transportation for our school district.”
