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    EPA Awards First Student $3.95M to Deploy 10 Electric School Buses Across Cincinnati Public Schools

    Jan. 16, 2024
    Replacing one diesel school bus with an electric alternative can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54,000 pounds each year
    First Student
    65a6e972119608001e3e4c12 First Student

    First Student, an electric school bus provider, has been awarded $3.95 million by the US Environmental Protection Agency to deliver 10 electric school buses and chargers to transport hundreds of students across Cincinnati Public Schools (CPS).

    “Cincinnati Public Schools is committed to safe, efficient transportation for our students and sustainable systems to enable success, as outlined in our new Strategic Plan,” said Iranetta Wright, CPS Superintendent. “This investment in school bus electrification isn’t just a step toward sustainability, it supports the well-being of our students, families, and communities.”

    Funding for the electric school buses was provided by the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program to accelerate the deployment of electric school buses across the US. In total, the EPA has provided enough funding to First Student to deploy more than 370 new electric school buses in school districts across the country.

    “The deployment of electric school buses will mean lower emissions on our streets, around our schools, and in the air our children breathe,” said Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval.

    First Student will partner with CPS to deploy the 10 buses over the next 18 months. According to the company, replacing one diesel school bus with an electric alternative can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54,000 pounds each year.

    In total, First Student hopes to transition 30,000 of its diesel-powered school buses to electric by 2035.

    “This award is a big win for our community and for the future of America’s electric school bus fleet,” said First Student CEO and President John Kenning. “We work with districts, utilities, and municipalities to build the necessary charging and maintenance infrastructure to support electric school buses and are especially proud to be doing so in partnership with Cincinnati Public Schools.”

    About the Author

    EnergyTech Staff

    Rod Walton is senior editor for EnergyTech.com. He has spent 14 years covering the energy industry as a newspaper and trade journalist.

    Walton formerly was energy writer and business editor at the Tulsa World. Later, he spent six years covering the electricity power sector for Pennwell and Clarion Events. He joined Endeavor and EnergyTech in November 2021.

    He can be reached at [email protected]. 

    EnergyTech is focused on the mission critical and large-scale energy users and their sustainability and resiliency goals. These include the commercial and industrial sectors, as well as the military, universities, data centers and microgrids.

    Many large-scale energy users such as Fortune 500 companies, and mission-critical users such as military bases, universities, healthcare facilities, public safety and data centers, shifting their energy priorities to reach net-zero carbon goals within the coming decades. These include plans for renewable energy power purchase agreements, but also on-site resiliency projects such as microgrids, combined heat and power, rooftop solar, energy storage, digitalization and building efficiency upgrades.