Joint Effort by Exelon and Transportation Electrification Advocates Shows the Electric School Bus Transition Will Provide Wide-Ranging Health, Environmental and Societal Benefits
19 Dezembro 2023 - 11:00AM
Business Wire
School bus electrification represents an unprecedented
opportunity for environmental, public health, economic, and grid
flexibility gains to address longstanding social equity
issues.
Exelon (Nasdaq, EXC), in partnership with CALSTART, EPRI, Clean
Energy Works, World Resources Institute (WRI) and Edison Electric
Institute (EEI), today released a white paper examining how the
electric school bus transition can deliver a wide range of
environmental justice, health and other benefits to customers,
communities and the electric grid. In fact, replacing all diesel
school buses in the United States with electric school buses would
avoid approximately nine million metric tons of greenhouse gas
emissions per year, the equivalent of removing two million cars
from the road. Accelerating deployment represents a significant
opportunity for stakeholders, and this report can serve as a guide
for public utility commissions, policymakers, and school bus
operators to reduce common barriers to adoption and ensure an
equitable transition.
With the bipartisan Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act
(IIJA) and Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) in effect, there is
once-in-a-generation funding to electrify school buses across the
nation. Included in this funding is the Environmental Protection
Agency’s (EPA’s) Clean School Bus Program, which will allocate a total of $5 billion over a
five-year period to accelerate the replacement of diesel school
buses with zero- to low-emission models. Nine districts across
Exelon’s service areas have been awarded over $40 million in
funding to electrify more than 100 buses in the first round of
funding. So far, the program has awarded $1 billion to 349 school
bus operators in 2022, supporting the replacement of approximately
2,500 school buses.
The utility industry is well-positioned to take a leading role
in facilitating and accelerating this important market
transformation and ensuring the benefits reach customers and
communities in an equitable way. As the nation’s largest energy
delivery company, Exelon is committed to working with school bus
operators, districts, and other community stakeholders to provide
recommendations on how to best leverage available resources to
maximize benefits for residents of our service areas.
“School bus electrification has the potential to transform the
energy grid by providing stability, capacity and emergency power
when needed, but most importantly, this change will transform the
lives of the students we serve as well,” said Sunny Elebua,
Exelon's Chief Strategy and Sustainability Officer. “At Exelon,
we are committed to sustainable progress, particularly in
communities where there are marked disparities such as air quality.
We are proud of this study and the opportunity to address
disparities and foster healthier communities.”
An estimated 25 million American children rely on school bus
travel for safe transportation to and from school, accounting for
billions of miles traveled each year. Efforts to reduce diesel
exhaust from older diesel engines can offer health solutions and
reduce harmful emissions – particularly in under-resourced
communities that are impacted the most. Almost 95 percent of school
buses, which transport 55 percent of all students, run on diesel.
On average, 60 percent of low-income students ride the bus daily,
compared to 45 percent of students in other income brackets. Black
students and children with disabilities also rely on diesel school
buses more than others.
"School bus electrification must scale up quickly and
comprehensively to ensure an equitable transition and equal access
to zero-emission technologies if we want to both address climate
change and also create opportunities for jobs in the zero-emission
sector,” said Jared Schnader, Senior Director and Bus Initiative
Lead at CALSTART. "Zooming in on the critical role of electric
utilities, as well as clarifying the interactions school districts
and operators will need to have with their utilities, will enable
this transformation to unfold swiftly and cost-efficiently."
“Electric school buses provide many benefits to the utility as
well as the community. But without carefully considering how to
operationalize equity, these benefits run the risk of being
unevenly distributed,” said Margarita Parra, Director of
Transportation Decarbonization at Clean Energy Works.
“Equity can serve as a pathway for utilities to be more efficient
and effective in achieving their business and energy management
goals, while addressing inequities and improving the quality of
life for students, teachers, bus drivers, and the local
community.”
“EEI and our member electric companies are committed to
delivering resilient clean energy across our economy, and we are
excited about all of the work underway to use that energy to reduce
emissions from the transportation sector,” said EEI Senior
Director of Electric Transportation Kellen Schefter.
“Contributing to this project highlights EPRI’s core mission to
benefit society,” said David Porter, vice president of
electrification and sustainable energy strategy, EPRI. “It not
only advances the clean energy transition, but also benefits the
millions of children and local residents impacted by cleaner
transportation to and from school.”
“The importance of robust engagement by electric utilities in
this transition cannot be overstated,” said Sue Gander, Director
of the World Resources Institute’s Electric School Bus
Initiative. “This new whitepaper describes the electric power
sector’s unique and critical role in school bus electrification. We
look forward to supporting utilities in bringing these
recommendations to life – to unlock health, environmental,
economic, and grid benefits for communities, starting with
underserved communities that experience the worst impacts of
vehicle pollution today.”
This whitepaper is designed to serve as a resource for elected
officials, school administrators, and community members seeking to
bring the benefits of electric school buses to their communities.
To learn more about the white paper, visit
www.calstart.org/electric-school-bus-transition.
About Exelon
Exelon (Nasdaq: EXC) is a Fortune 200 company and the nation’s
largest energy delivery company, serving more than 10 million
customers through six fully regulated transmission and distribution
utilities — Atlantic City Electric (ACE), Baltimore Gas and
Electric (BGE), Commonwealth Edison (ComEd), Delmarva Power &
Light (DPL), PECO Energy Company (PECO), and Potomac Electric Power
Company (Pepco). More than 18,000 Exelon employees dedicate their
time and expertise to powering a cleaner and brighter future for
our customers and communities through reliable, affordable and
efficient energy delivery, workforce development, equity, economic
development and volunteerism. Follow Exelon on X, formerly known as
Twitter, @Exelon.
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James Gherardi Corporate Communications
james.gherardi@exeloncorp.com 312-394-7417
Exelon Media Hotline
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