West Aurora School District 129 has decided to change suppliers for the electric buses it is adding to its fleet.
District officials had said the buses would come from Lion Electric Company.
“Lion Electric is currently in bankruptcy proceedings with an uncertain timeline. To make sure that we protected our EPA award, and to avoid any potential disruptions to our operations, we made the decision to switch to Blue Bird buses through Central States,” West Aurora Assistant Superintendent of Business Angie Smith told The Beacon-News.
“As much as we liked the vehicles … the reality is we don’t know what the future is for Lion. We have made the decision to move to Blue Bird buses,” Smith said.
The West Aurora school board in November decided to add some electric school buses to the district’s fleet.
The plan to bring in 27 electric buses to replace some older diesel models is part of the district’s ongoing efforts to be environmentally conscious, district officials said.
The move impacts more than one-third of the district’s bus fleet.
The district has a fleet of 73 buses powered by diesel engines, half of which are under two-year leases due to expire at the end of the school year.
Several changes made the school district’s administration look closer at a proposal to make a switch to add some electric buses, including competitive pricing, federal funding and rebates, officials said.
The board weighed the benefits of partnering with Massachusetts-based Highland Electric Fleets or purchasing the buses on its own. Highland has projects across the country and has specialized knowledge in the field of electric buses, officials have said.
The board decided Nov. 18 to partner with Highland due to several key factors as presented by the administration, including contract concessions, West Aurora School Board President Richard Kerns said at the time.
Highland agreed to all the concessions the district requested in the contract, Kerns had said.
Other factors in going with Highland include risk management and guarantees, he said.
One of the benefits to partnering with Highland Electric Fleets was the ability to change bus vendors when needed, Smith told The Beacon-News.
“It was a simple change for us because of the Highland partnership,” Smith said of the move to Blue Bird buses.
Blue Bird is currently the vendor the district uses for gasoline-powered buses, and its vehicles are manufactured in the U.S. The district will be purchasing from Central States Bus Sales, a district taxpayer, she added.
While the Blue Bird electric buses are more expensive, the transition is still beneficial to the district, according to Smith.
“Even at a higher price-point we are still at about half the cost when you take into consideration rebates and tax credits versus buying gas buses,” Smith told the board.
Initially, there were concerns about the availability of federal funding, rebates and tax credits for electric buses. The district has been assured those rebates and tax credits are “in the pipeline,” Smith said.
“We still expect to save over $100,000 annually just on fuel,” Smith told The Beacon-News. “In addition, even though these buses are more expensive, with the EPA, tax credit and ComEd rebates in place, they are still approximately only one-half the cost of a new gas bus.
“Mechanically, both Blue Bird and Lion buses run on electric batteries. The look and feel of them might be slightly different the way a Jeep feels different than a Bronco, but both meet our needs and requirements,” Smith said.
“Blue Bird will be able to meet the timelines we need for our grant and to serve our students. Because the buses that we were replacing were due to go back to Central States, if there is a delay we will just keep what we already have, guaranteeing no disruption,” Smith said.
ComEd has now estimated it will take approximately eight weeks to establish the charging capabilities on site for West Aurora’s electric school buses. ComEd has also increased incentives, she said.
“We have had initial meetings with ComEd and Highland to plan for the charger installation. The timelines for installing the new service and getting charger equipment in have improved considerably, and we are confident that we will be ready for the start of the school year,” Smith said.
Linda Girardi is a freelance reporter for The Beacon-News.
