Colorado Transit Agency Deploys 6 Electric Buses That Double as Grid Backup Batteries

Source: Good News Network ↗

Cherry Creek School District in Colorado put six electric school buses into service with vehicle-to-grid capability, funded entirely through a $2.4 million federal rebate collected by fleet electrification firm Highland Electric Fleets.

The district paid nothing for the buses or the new bus facility. Highland Electric Fleets secured the $2.4 million rebate through a federal partnership and applied it to both the vehicles and the barn, according to the June 3 groundbreaking for the depot.

The V2G system works on the school run’s natural schedule: buses charge overnight at low-demand rates, operate routes during the day, and return to the depot after afternoon drop-off with substantial charge remaining. Bi-directional chargers then allow the buses to push stored kilowatt-hours back to the grid during the late-afternoon and early-evening peak demand window, with enough overnight hours left to recharge before the next school day.

Highland Electric Fleets estimates that 24 buses could help the grid manage peak demand from 100 homes, and a fleet of a few hundred could support more than 1,000.

“This partnership works to support our environmental goals while delivering long-term operational savings,” said Jennifer Perry, Cherry Creek’s interim superintendent, at the June 3 groundbreaking.

Perry also cited long-term cost competitiveness, pointing to elevated diesel prices and the significantly lower maintenance burden of electric vehicles, which carry roughly 95 percent fewer moving parts than their diesel counterparts. Highland Electric Fleets is running several similar pilot programs, which the company says will also benefit communities through reductions in diesel exhaust and noise pollution.