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At Dominion Energy, we are committed to helping Virginia become a leader in clean transportation for students, while reducing our carbon footprint and helping our customers do the same. In 2019, we announced that we would partner with Virginia school districts as they began replacing diesel buses in their fleets with electric models.
We will continue our commitment by providing fast-charging solutions to help school districts that receive electric school bus funding from federal and state grants. This ongoing initiative will further benefit our environment, our communities, our schools, and most importantly, our children.
Cleaner Air & Zero Emissions
Replacing one diesel bus can reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 54,000 pounds each year.
The air quality inside a diesel bus is 5x worse than outside the bus. Replacing a diesel bus with an electric bus significantly improves air quality for students inside the bus and for the communities we serve.
Vehicle-to-Grid Technology
The buses are all electric, and so can be used as portable batteries. When not in use, they can be tapped as an energy resource through vehicle-to-grid technology. If energy needs are high or if renewable resources are intermittent, the batteries can provide stability to the grid. During a power outage or emergency, the batteries could serve as mobile power stations. 
Increased Safety
Electric buses are quiet, allowing for better communication between drivers and students.
Lower Cost & Less Maintenance
An electric bus reduces operation and maintenance costs for schools by 60% as compared to a diesel model.
FAQs
The EPA recently announced rebate and grant programs which provide $5 billion over five years to accelerate the adoption of electric school buses. Dominion Energy is supporting this initiative by offering fast-charging solutions to help school districts that receive EPA funding. These offerings include utility coordination, grid upgrades, construction, and charger installation.
The Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act (IIJA) provides $5 billion for the EPA Clean School Bus Program to replace existing school buses with clean, zero-emission school buses. Approximately $2.5 billion of funding has been awarded since 2022. Future clean school bus funding opportunities can be found on the EPA website.
All school districts in Dominion Energy Virginia’s service territory awarded rebates and grants from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Program are eligible. School districts will be asked to enter into a Participation Agreement with Dominion Energy to participate.
Read more about the EPA Clean School Bus Program.
With Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) technology, electric school buses function as mobile batteries, storing energy until it is needed. When energy demands are high or if energy resources are intermittent, the batteries in electric school buses can be tapped to help stabilize the grid and meet customer demands.
The current V2G approved program buses are Thomas Built Saf-T-Liner® C2 Jouley® and The Lion Electric all-electric TypeC; however, Dominion Energy is continuing to evaluate additional buses in the future.
These program buses have a range of 120 to 160 miles on a full charge. It takes approximately 3 hours to fully charge these vehicles. The average daily round trip school bus route is 80 miles.
Dominion Energy will have the option to take ownership of the battery and use it for electric distribution grid support. Dominion Energy's Electric School Bus Infrastructure Program could give a second life to your bus battery by using it for stationary energy storage.
Schools will pay for charging based on their existing rate schedule, with the exception of charging that occurs after a V2G call. In that instance, Dominion Energy replenishes battery at no charge to customer within three hours.