This Pennsylvania school is saving big with solar and EV school buses

The Steelton-Highspire School District installed a 1.7 MW solar array, now meeting 100% of its electricity demands and projected to save $3.6 million over 20 years. By leveraging federal rebates, the district also acquired electric school buses, which save $20,000 in annual fuel expenses. This combination of solar power with on-site bus charging stations avoids costly utility upgrades. This initiative exemplifies how schools can address financial issues and reduce carbon emissions simultaneously.

As for the electric school buses, Steelton-Highspire is one of thousands of districts able to access federal rebates from a $5 billion program created by the 2021 Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. That’s important for meeting the up-front expense of electric buses, which can be cheaper to operate but cost about three times as much as their diesel-fueled counterparts to purchase.

The district worked with its long-time transportation services contractor First Student to secure the $2.4 million clean school-bus rebate from the Environmental Protection Agency, and then again to build on-site charging stations to take advantage of the school’s lower-cost solar power. That helped avoid some of the unexpected costs and complexities that can block schools from getting electric school buses running even after getting grants to buy them.