Electric School Buses Are Coming To Alexandria In 2020

FAIRFAX COUNTY, VA — Alexandria City Public Schools will be one of the school districts part of the first deployment of electric school buses in Virginia as part of a Dominion Energy initiative. The school district will receive funding assistance to purchase electric school buses.

ACPS was one of 16 districts chosen to receive the first phase of electric school buses by the end of 2020. Dominion Energy's vendor Thomas Built Buses will provide a total of 50 buses split among the districts during the first phase.

Dominion Energy will cover the cost difference so school districts are only paying what they would for diesel buses. The utility company will also subsidize the cost of the needed charging infrastructure.

The other school divisions chosen to receive electric school buses in the first phase are Arlington, Charles City, Chesapeake, Chesterfield, Fairfax, Hampton, Louisa, Middlesex, Norfolk, Pittsylvania, Powhatan, Prince William, Richmond City, Virginia Beach and Waynesboro.

The second phase of the electric school bus initiative would require state approval. Dominion Energy seeks to bring 1,000 additional electric school buses online by 2025. The third phase would be to have 50 percent of all diesel buses replaced in Dominion Energy's service area by 2025 and 100 percent by 2030.

Alexandria's DASH bus system is also in the process of securing electric buses. The transit company announced last year it received funding for six electric buses through statewide transit capital funds and a Volkswagen trust resulting from an emissions violation settlement. The electric bus purchase was announced in June 2019, and DASH said the delivery time frame could take 12 to 18 months.