Housing, retail and commercial development has stalled in parts of Brighton, Henrietta and most of Ontario County because RG&E and NYSEG have literally run out of grid space to power them.
So, how are school districts supposed to meet state mandates to electrify school bus fleets? “We would need somewhere between 700 and 1100 additional kilowatts of electrical power to even a remotely power a small fleet of electric buses. We have nowhere near that capacity right now,” says Dr. Timothy Terranova, Superintendent of Victor Schools.
The superintendent at Marcus Whitman in rural Ontario County says he’s been told point blank whether it’s one electric bus or 40: “We absolutely cannot, the grid cannot accommodate our power needs to even power up or charge EV buses,” says Dr. Chris Brown.
The state has already allowed for up to a 4-year extension for districts that are unable to comply with the 2027 deadline to start buying zero-emission buses but most in our area say if they can’t get the power they need, why buy buses that will sit unused?
“10 more years I think gives RG&E in our region an opportunity to do some advancements and things that they need to do but I also think it gives a chance for technology to progress,” says Dr. Brown.
Ontario County school superintendents are meeting this week with the president of RG&E and NYSEG to talk about a realistic timeline for electrification of bus fleets.
“While we’d all like to get to zero-emission for the sake of the environment, we firmly believe that until the state really gets the grid under control and fixes the electrical grid that we can’t be focused on electric buses right now,” says Dr. Terranova.
That’s what they plan to tell state lawmakers when they advocate for the mandate to be pushed back even further.
Governor Hochul has admitted to News10NBC Investigative Reporter Jennifer Lewke that the goal is “aspirational” and circumstances have changed since the law went into effect.
In addition to the 4-year extension, this year’s state budget also included an additional $100 million that districts can apply for in order to offset the cost of electric buses but again, if the power isn’t there, district superintendents say they don’t want to take the money.
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