Uintah School District announced Wednesday that they are kicking off the school year with the addition of electric buses to its fleet. District Superintendent Dr. Rick Woodford says the addition of the electric buses began with a letter from the Utah Petroleum Association encouraging “any efforts made by the local area to reduce emissions that impact our air quality, and particularly those that lead to our winter ozone challenges, such as diesel emissions.” Still, Wednesday’s announcement shares that the decision by the Uintah School Board to apply for the funding was not taken lightly and the Board considered many aspects and concerns from board members and district stakeholders about electric vehicles. “All things considered, I believe our board members made the right decision for the good of our district, our students, and our community,” shares the Superintendent. The district did not have to spend any local capital funds in order to purchase the 10 electric buses and charging infrastructure. The project was fully funded with money from settlement awards collected by the Utah Department of Environmental Quality and rebates the district received through the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus Program. The district’s bus fleet also includes 27 propane buses and 23 diesel buses. “The replacement of 10 heavy duty diesel buses with electric buses will result in an estimated annual reduction of 218 tons of emissions, which includes greenhouse gasses,” shares the announcement. “In addition, there will be an annual cost savings to the school district of $76,000 in diesel fuel expenses.”
