SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--The wheels on the bus still go ’round and ’round, but in several communities in Northern and Central California, they’ll soon be powered by clean electricity. Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is helping school districts in its service area as they transition to electric buses, supporting cleaner air, lower maintenance costs and quieter rides. Through its EV Fleet program, PG&E is working with over 30 school districts adopting about 350 electric buses.
Clovis, Red Bluff on the Road to Electric
For Clovis Unified School District in the Central Valley and Red Bluff Joint Union High School District in the North Valley, PG&E helped build the electrical infrastructure necessary to power electric buses and provided rebates for the school districts to purchase the EV chargers. Over the next few years, the school districts are installing the EV chargers and incorporating electric school buses into their fleets—11 in Clovis and 10 in Red Bluff.
“Clovis Unified School District is excited to partner with PG&E through the EV Fleet program that assists our efforts to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions in our district,” said Sheryl Boe, Transportation Director with Clovis Unified School District.
“We were able to put our inaugural fleet of electric buses into service just recently, transporting students to and from summer school,” Boe said. “We are excited to see them on the streets, knowing that they are helping the environment. We are committed to doing our part in California and look forward to providing cleaner air for our students and community.”
“One of the challenges associated with fleet electrification is infrastructure planning and installation. In the early stages of this project, EV Fleet assisted with site evaluation and provided valuable information with respect to infrastructure funding, rate plans, and future expansion of electrification. Partnering with PG&E to install the electric bus charging infrastructure alleviated much of the initial concern associated with the project,” said Zach Pierce, Director of Transportation with Red Bluff Joint Union High School District.
Pierce added, “The Red Bluff High School District Transportation Department is thankful for PG&E’s assistance with the planning and installation of EV charging infrastructure.”
Helping Organizations Transition to Clean, Electric Fleets
Increasing EV adoption is a critical component to making California’s clean air future a reality as transportation is the single largest source of greenhouse-gas emissions in California, contributing 41%. The electricity fueling EVs in California comes from one of the cleanest energy mixes in the country – more than 85 percent of the electricity PG&E delivers to customers is from greenhouse gas-free resources.
“Expanding the use of electric vehicles is essential for California to achieve its bold climate and clean-air goals. PG&E is thrilled to support the critical task of electrifying fleet vehicles, and we will continue to be an active partner in helping make EVs an option for our customers, including school districts. Reducing vehicle emissions is good for our students, the state and the environment,” said Laurie Giammona, PG&E Senior Vice President of Customer Care.
PG&E’s EV Fleet program helps customers with medium-duty, heavy-duty and off-road fleets begin to transition their fleet vehicles to clean electricity to save money, eliminate tailpipe emissions and simplify maintenance.
Through the EV Fleet program, PG&E is currently working on over 65 customer projects supporting approximately 1,100 electric fleet vehicles. The program aims to install electrical infrastructure at 700 sites by 2024 to support the adoption of 6,500 medium- and heavy-duty electric vehicles, including school buses.
Through the EV Fleet program, PG&E helps build the electrical infrastructure for customers’ medium- to heavy-duty EVs. PG&E comprehensively assists customers across all facets of EV charging including available incentives and rebates, site design and permitting, construction and activation, and infrastructure maintenance and upgrades.
In addition to the EV Fleet program, PG&E supports EV adoption for fleet vehicles through special rates and tools, including the Business EV Rate and EV Fleet Savings Calculator. For customers with fleets that are making the transition to electric, an essential step in the process is understanding the costs and potential cost savings when deploying EVs.
PG&E encourages customers to reach out early in their process of considering fleet electrification. Customers can submit an interest form and speak to an EV Fleet specialist by visiting pge.com/evfleet.
About PG&E
PG&E, a subsidiary of PG&E Corporation (NYSE:PCG), is a combined natural gas and electric utility serving more than 16 million people across 70,000 square miles in Northern and Central California. For more information, visit pge.com and pge.com/news.