Accelerating Clean Transportation (ACT) School Bus: Advisory Services Program

The Challenge: Reduce Barriers to Electrifying School Buses

Despite the long-term savings and health benefits of going electric, school districts face barriers to electrifying their school bus fleets, including:

• Additional upfront costs to purchase buses and associated charging infrastructure
• Coordination with third-party transportation providers for school districts that prefer to lease
• Gaps in technical knowledge necessary to transition from diesel to electric bus operation
• Resource and budget constraints

About ACT School Bus Advisory Services Program

Through the ACT School Bus Advisory Services Program, MassCEC provides free fleet electrification planning support to public school districts across Massachusetts. MassCEC is working with a consultant team to address the gap in technical knowledge impeding school bus fleets from electrifying. The consultants will provide public school districts and third-party school bus fleet operators technical services such as:

• vehicle and charging infrastructure analysis
• feasibility designs 
• financial models 
• preparing for and applying for future funding opportunities
• vehicle and charging station procurement plans 
• educational materials 

The goal of the program is to provide school districts with a clear path to school bus electrification. Note that this program does not provide funding to buy electric school buses; rather it provides advisory services at no charge to school districts.

MassCEC's consultant team is led by VEIC, a sustainable energy non-profit, specializing in energy efficiency, building decarbonization, transportation electrification, and developing a clean and flexible grid. To perform this work, VEIC is partnering with PowerOptions, a New England-based non-profit energy consortium that helps its members achieve energy savings and sustainability goals through group procurement and technical assistance programs, and Energetics, a consulting firm that helps public and private entities integrate clean energy technologies and strategies into real-world applications.