Ohio Buses & Clean Air (OBACA): Clean School Bus Grant Program
The 2024 Clean School Bus Rebate Program is OPEN
For assistance in the grant writing:
162 Electric buses funded to serve Ohio students
New assistance available from Center for Transportation and the Environment (CTE)
- Access services through the Clean Bus Planning Awards Program
- Charging infrastructure assistance, including siting, charge management, and analyzing daily charging requirements
- Utilities assistance, including analyzing rate options and demand charges
- Other support including fleet transition planning, assessing facility upgrades, providing information on available vehicle technologies, and outlining operational and maintenance considerations
- Documenting technical lessons learned related to electric transit and school bus deployments
IC Crafting Your Electric Road Map
Electric School Bus considerations
- Choosing Your Fleet Composition
- Selecting Electric Vehicle Supply Equipment (EVSE)
- Infrastructure Planning with Your Local Utility
OBACA Meeting - Recording
PowerPoint slides:
- EPA Region 5 Acevedo
- Highland Electric
- AEP Julie Volpe Walker
- Electric Co-Op Southern Power Cellar
- EPA Region 5 Morales
- Beneficial Electric League
- IC Bus Navistar
- Thomas Bus emergency response guide
Training Needs for Electric School Bus Operators and Maintenance Technicians
ASK the EXPERTS:
- AEP Ohio contact for electric utility related questions: Julie Volpe Walker, OhioEVCharging@aep.com or by phone: (614) 230-4210
- First Energy school bus electrification Customer Policy & Solutions, Sarah E Haas sehaas@firstenergycorp.com office phone: (330) 315-6182
- Highland Fleets contact for full service electric bus adoption: James Rajiah by email: james@highlandfleets.com or phone: (330) 634-4446 https://highlandfleets.com/
- EPA will respond to questions at cleanschoolbus@epa.gov and please type “Clean School Bus NOFO Question”in the subject line of your email.
- Clean Fuels Ohio, contact Jacob Schwemlein by email: Jacob@cleanfuelsohio.org
- Truck Sales and Service, Inc. by Jame Herzog, Sales Manager email: JHerzog@trksls.com
- Alliance for Electric School Buses decision making guide
- Thomas Built Buses contact Mike Guarino email: mike.guarino@daimlertruck.com phone: (803) 504-4264
Resources:
- Beneficial Electrification League tool kit, Co-ops help-information, BEL-news
- BetterFleet comprehensive toolkit to equip school transportation professionals with helpful information and resources needed to successfully navigate the Clean School Bus grant program and meet the August 22nd application deadline.
- Highland Electric Fleets FAQs and Round 2 Grant Guide
- Moms Clean Air Force we want every community to benefit from cleaner air and healthier rides to school.
- Ohio Propane Gas Association (OPGA) is offering Ohio propane customers $4,000 rebates - up to $20,000 - for the purchase of new propane school buses. Visit OPGA’s Ohio’s one-stop-shop to learn more.
- Thomas Built Buses offer infrastructure consulting packages for building your electrification plan.
- To receive information and contact for your local utility provider: Please contact the Joint Office at cleanschoolbusTA@nrel.gov
- World Resources Institute
- Free one-on-one sessions with our experts on staff
- Group sessions facilitated by the ESB Initiative for districts and stakeholders to ask questions and share knowledge
- Technical assistance from ESB Initiative staff
- Free one-on-one sessions with our experts on staff
School Bus Vendors:
- Blue Bird website brochure
- IC Bus website brochure, also a free white paper : "The Electric Bus Journey"
- Thomas Bus website brochure
List of OBACA members (downloadable excel file)