Forget sticker shock, Tony Harris said.
That’s because $110,000 is still a bit of a steal for a new school bus these days.
Especially one that runs on electric power with zero emissions.
Harris, who directs transportation services for Monongalia County Schools, was left idling Thursday afternoon over an announcement the Environmental Protection Agency was taking back the more than $18 million previously allocated to Mon and eight other counties for the purchase of such vehicles.
One of the reasons why for Mon, was that for the purposes of the payout, it was classified as a rural county, when, according to the EPA’s behind-the-wheel analytics, the county trends more urban.
Cabell, Clay, Calhoun, Grant, Harrison, Kanawha, Lewis and Mineral counties were also told their bus money would have to go back while the agency reconfigured everything.
Now, as it turns out, Mon Schools isn’t losing all its allocation, the transportation director said.
Same for the public districts in Harrison and Mineral counties.
“We had a Zoom call with Sen. Manchin this morning and got some clarification,” Harris said Friday.
Under the new terms, Mon’s district would pay the aforementioned $110,000 for a full-size BEAST bus – it stands for “battery electric alternative transportation” – which is built in West Virginia by GreenPower Motor Co., a leading manufacturer that opened a plant in South Charleston two years ago.
Fully funded counties won’t have to pay anything.
Counties not funded at all will have to pony up $385,000, which is the current sticker price for an 84-seater, full-size BEAST bus.
“When we heard that initial announcement from EPA yesterday, we said, ‘Well, that’s it – we’re done with electric buses.’ There’s no way we can afford that.”
Right now, under the contract, it costs a West Virginia school system $127,000 for a diesel bus and all it implies for the environment, Harris said.
And that price, he reports, is going up around $3,000, based on what he’s hearing.
Mon County’s superintendent of schools, Eddie Campbell, meanwhile, is hearing monthly budget benefits and not just Mother Nature, as he considers future bus purchases for his district.
“Any time you can save money is a good thing,” he said.
“A lot of our diesel buses have 180,000 miles or better on them. We’re upgrading the fleet, and the new ones are gonna be so much more efficient.”
