The substation project, which is still under discussion, is only part of what school officials say will be a costly endeavor to replace the district's 217 gas-powered buses with an electric fleet and install charging stations needed to power the vehicles.
The Shenendehowa district is one of the largest in the Capital Region, busing thousands of students a day across a large swath of southern Saratoga County.
"You can throw all the money you want at it, but until you have the requisite electrical power coming into your campus bus parking area — whatever you want to call it — you can't move forward," said Al Karam, Shenendehowa's director of transportation.
Because of costs and infrastructure needs, Capital Region school leaders are concerned they won't be able to meet the state's 2027 deadline to begin buying only electric buses and the ultimate 2035 deadline of fully electrified fleets. The mandate applies to all school bus operations in the state, including private companies like First Student, which transports Schenectady City School District students.
A recent analysis by the Empire Center, an Albany-based think tank, found the cost of purchasing new electric vehicles to replace the 50,000 school buses throughout New York could cost as much as $8.9 billion. New York is home to around 700 school districts and makes up 10 percent of the country's school bus fleet.
Some state lawmakers have raised the concerns as well, going as far as seeking a repeal of the mandate and pushing efforts to pause or even extend the deadline. None of the efforts have been successful.
But state energy officials say they aren't as concerned as they continue to work with districts across the state to determine their needs and provide avenues for funding.
"We are working with schools — over 200 schools now — to help them prepare for this transition and that's really the first step," said Adam Ruder, the director of clean transportation with New York State Energy Research and Development Authority.
The push for bus fleet electrification comes as the state moves toward greener energy and zero emissions.
Some officials fear district voters may not agree with the state's energy goals. In New York state, district residents are tasked with approving school budgets and propositions including bus and capital projects necessary to move forward with the transition.
"You're talking sticker shock," Karam said. "That's a lot of money and let's not forget, the longer we delay the transition, the shorter time period we have, which means the more electric buses we have to purchase per year to meet the deadline and you're talking in the millions."
EXPENSIVE SHIFT
Shen is looking at the likelihood of building a substation to supply four to six megawatts more of power on top of what the district currently uses. The district currently uses two megawatts of power at its bus compound. Karam said one megawatt can help power around 55 buses. The district has also looked at running a large power line to a power distribution station near Grooms Road — that would cost the district $3 to $4 million per mile, he said. Grooms Road is around five miles from the Shen campus, meaning a potential cost of $20 million to the district.
However, Karam said, even if National Grid told them they could supply the needed power today, the district is still looking at thousands if not millions in cost to put in the needed wiring and conduits for chargers.
He indicated that the district cannot purchase anymore electric buses until it figures out its power supply issue. The district is currently awaiting four electric buses and two 60-kilowatt chargers.
Dave Christopher, the executive director of the New York Association of Pupil Transportation, said that's an extreme situation for a district, but troubling nonetheless.
"The cost of infrastructure for the most part is unknown because every school district has different infrastructure needs," he said. "Some school districts may need more cabling for more electricity but others may need new garages, substations. I think the Shen situation is the extreme."
At Mohonasen Central School District in Schenectady County, Superintendent Shannon Shine said the district is estimating it could cost upwards of $25 million to transition its fleet of 57 vehicles to electric and install the necessary infrastructure to charge the vehicles. It's a cost the superintendent called "excessively expensive" for the district of around 2,700 students.
"I am not opposed to utilizing zero-emission buses, but when I consider cost alone, I am unable to project how such costs can be borne across New York state, even if things are implemented gradually to some extent; there just doesn't appear to be enough state revenue to make this happen," Shine said.
Scotia-Glenville Central School District officials have actively been researching what it would take to transition their district's fleet of 48 gas-powered vehicles to electric for the past two years.
Initial estimates show the shift will cost around $30 million, though a final price tag is still being worked out, said Andrew Giaquinto, the district's business manager.
Electric buses cost about $400,000, which is around three times as much as gas-powered buses, said Brian Fessler, the director of government relations for the New York State School Boards Association.
"That cost has increased a bit over the past couple of years, despite projections assuming prices would have come down," Fessler said.
Charging stations are also costly — anywhere from $6,000 to $70,000, depending on what you get, Karam said.
Purchasing the high-priced buses and infrastructure isn't the only concern for local leaders.
Shine also raised concerns about developing technology associated with electric school buses including how far the vehicles can travel on a single charge, reliability in cold weather and whether the state's electrical grid can support the transition.
Giaquinto noted that the range for an electric bus is only about 120 miles per charge, which drops off when brakes are applied and things like heat are used in the winter. Giaquinto also said Scotia-Glenville has been looking into where buses can be charged while on field trips and how the vehicles tolerate cold weather.
Christopher said some districts are conducting studies to determine their needs, but "not all schools have had these studies done."
Districts are expected to provide the state Education Department with information on where they stand on their transition efforts this summer, according to Christopher.
FUNDING FLEETS
Ruder said there are funding tools and resources available to help districts overcome challenges but that the first step is getting some electric buses into their fleets in order to see how they operate.
"What we've seen from working with a lot of schools over the years is that by getting a few into your fleet this becomes less of a new technology is scary kind of proposition and more of a building familiarity and understanding of how these buses work, where they work well, where they're maybe not quite ready for use and making sure that you're setting yourself up for success because the last thing we want is for a school district to get to 2027 or beyond and feel uncomfortable with the technology," Ruder said.
He said the state will help cover the costs to study a district's needs to meet electrification, noting the state's Environmental Bond Act set aside $500 million for NYSERDA's School Bus Incentive program in order to cover up to "100% of the difference in cost between a diesel bus and electric bus."
There are also funds through utility companies like National Grid, as well as federal funds available to districts, including $5 billion under the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Clean School Bus Program through fiscal year 2026 that was approved under the 2021 bipartisan Infrastructure Law.
Scotia-Glenville recently applied for a grant through the EPA that will cover around half the cost of purchasing five electric school buses. The district applied for the grant previously but was unsuccessful.
Giaquinto expects to learn if the district was awarded the grant in the coming weeks, but whether the board of education moves to accept the grant and buy the buses is still to be determined. The district will also have a budget proposition on its May 21 ballot to borrow $1 million to cover the remaining balance for the buses contingent on the district being awarded the grant.
"It's very complex," Giaquinto said. "It's coming down the road, but we're trying to phase it in."
Purchasing the vehicles will also be covered by state transportation aid, though the shift will require increased front-end costs for districts, according to Fessler. With the recently approved state budget, many districts saw their foundation aid remain flat — a move that Fessler said will make it difficult for districts to move forward with the transition.
While there are different funding pools, they have varying rules and processes, making it difficult to identify and apply for grants, according to Fessler.
"So, it requires quite a bit of work to identify and apply for, especially for districts that do not have any previous familiarity," he said.
DOWN TO VOTERS
Regardless of available funding opportunities, school districts in the state are still required to obtain voter approval before moving forward with borrowing money to purchase buses or complete capital projects. That's a cause for concern among school officials.
Fessler said, while some districts have been successful in getting propositions to purchase electric school buses approved, others in the state have seen similar proposals voted down.
Adirondack Central School District in Oneida County is just one district to strike down funds, voting against approving a $30,000 EPA grant last fall.
Onteora Central School District in Ulster County also turned down an $8.5 million EPA grant to buy 21 electric buses last year in part because the school board had concerns over the costs of infrastructure for the buses.
"I think we're still in a bit of a wait-and-see approach, as we follow these votes, to decide if this is a prevalent enough challenge that might suggest the need for potential adjustments," Fessler said.
Gov. Kathy Hochul's office did not clarify Friday what would happen if voters were to reject bus propositions or capital projects related to bus fleet electrification, instead noting that districts have to comply with state education laws and that the state Education Department has the authority to ensure that compliance happens.
"Gas and diesel school buses are putting children's health at risk, spewing toxic fumes and pollutants into the air that doctors say contribute to asthma and other negative health outcomes," the governor's office said in an emailed statement. "After New York voters approved an Environmental Bond Act that allocated $500 million for zero-emission school buses, Governor Hochul is working with communities across New York to allocate these funds and ensure they are fully utilized."
Shine said Mohonasen will ultimately comply with the state mandate, but noted he believes the deadline will be pushed back "significantly." He suggested New York ease into the technology.
"Using it for transporting school children when there are this many red flags seems imprudent," he said. "It's a laudable goal whose time has not yet come."
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