Maryland's Montgomery School District owns the largest fleet of electric school buses in the United States, giving the face to what a school should be amid global warming.
Of the 25 school districts in Maryland, Montgomery is a standout in harnessing renewable energy by providing a fleet of zero-emission school buses.
On ordinary days, the school district said, the gas-powered buses of Montgomery County Public Schools (MCPS) use some 17,000 gallons of diesel. While emitting greenhouse gas, these buses have diesel exhaust, a harmful gas to the riders and communities.
Reduce Greenhouse Gas Emission
To address the health and environmental issues, MCPS partnered with Highland Electric Fleet to dispose of its 325 gas-powered school buses by replacing them with EV vehicles.
The upgrade of school buses is part of the school district's plans to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from its vehicles by 80 percent in 2027. It expects to have zero-emission by 2035.
Largest Fleet of EV School Buses
MCPS initially acquired some 25 EV buses during the school year 2021-2022.
This school year's delivery of 61 EVs has made the school district in the United States the largest fleet of school buses.
Alongside the EV buses, MCPS also installed electric infrastructure in its three new transportation depots.
Clean, Healthy Transportation
Its partnership with Highland, MCPS is hoping to attain cleaner and healthier transportation services for all its students and communities.
By doing so, the school is also looking at the support it gives to have a reliable electric grid and providing synchronized energy reserves to the nation.
Highland, on the other hand, partnered with CPower Energy to make the EV school buses non-emitters of greenhouse gas.
Both Highland and CPower work in tandem to use the EV buses as solutions to electricity demand during peak periods.
Backup Energy Supply
CPower CEO John Horton said the company's partnership with EV fleets and charging operators, and schools across the United States can help lower the cost of electricity.
It also develops resilience in communities and transforms the power grip into a renewable source of power.
By managing the electricity supply the EV school buses need, Horton said, it significantly reduced the demand for electricity at the grid level.
The CPower CEO said the large fleet of EV school buses helps enhance the reliability of PJM Interconnection LLC, the country's largest grid company.
PJM had added the participation of EV charging operators and their assets to its capacity and other services. But the grid operator has not included the services for bidirectional charging.
Bidirectional charging, according to CPower, would yield optimum benefits to the environment.
The grid operator said the technology can unlock the potential of these assets in the near term.
Setting The Trend
MCPS is setting the trend by showing what ordinary school buses if transformed from gas-powered to EV, could unleash.
The benefits of getting EV school buses on the ground are great and timely, hitting the issues of pollution, greenhouse gas emission, and reliability of grid power.
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