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BRADLEY — Bradley-Bourbonnais Community High School is looking to jump on board the electric school bus trend.
The BBCHS District 307 School Board voted Monday to apply for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program.
The deadline to apply for the 2024 program, which is expected to be the final round of funding, was Tuesday.
BBCHS is applying to receive funding for one electric school bus and one slow-charging station.
The district currently has about 22 school buses.
The rebate program provides funding to school districts to purchase clean energy or zero-emission models to replace their used diesel-engine buses.
The district is under no obligation to purchase anything by applying for the grant.
If BBCHS is selected for the grant, the district would then look into the feasibility of putting an electric bus on one of its routes.
“We’re just looking at what’s available,” said Superintendent Matt Vosberg. “Obviously, there’s grant funding available, which makes it fiscally responsible to pursue. So we’re going to submit a grant and see what it looks like.”
The Clean School Bus program is the same program that awarded Herscher Community Unit School District 2 nearly $10 million in 2022 for 25 electric school buses and charging infrastructure.
Both the BBCHS and Herscher school districts are also pursuing solar projects.
The solar panels slated for BBCHS-owned farmland will be a community solar project, meaning the electricity generated there will go into the power grid for use by the community.
Groundbreaking on the solar panels has not happened yet, Vosberg said.
In addition to potentially receiving a free bus through the grant, the district could also be looking at some fuel cost savings by using an electric bus.
“From what I’ve read about it, the financial incentives are there,” Vosberg said. “It would be very economical, as far as the purchase and operation of the bus, more so than what we currently do.”
https://daily-journal.com/news/local/bourbonnais_news/bbchs-applying-for-electric-bus-funds/article_2a2a1b9c-d2b2-11ef-9830-13a2078b2ce2.html