Charging Station Woes Threaten Biden’s Clean School Bus Program

The EPA’s plan to equip school districts with clean buses could be hindered by a lack of vehicle charging stations, the agency’s internal watchdog said on Wednesday.

The report feeds into concerns shared by many congressional Republicans and consumers about whether it’s realistic to drive electric vehicles in parts of the US that don’t have robust charging infrastructure in place.

One utility company interviewed by the EPA’s Office of Inspector General said it didn’t have experience delivering EV power at the projected scale envisioned by the Biden administration’s plan. Another utility said it could take between nine months to two years to finish building the needed infrastructure.

Other stakeholders said the charging infrastructure to support fleets of 25 buses or more is harder to build and often requires different equipment. The transformers needed are hard to find in the US and are back ordered because of high demand, one utility told the inspector general.

The 2021 infrastructure law provides $5 billion over five years for school districts to replace older, mostly diesel buses with zero- and low-emission models. The Environmental Protection Agency has been flooded with applications from across the nation that far outstrip the amount of money available.

The program subsidizes some types of infrastructure, but not all. For example, the costs of charging equipment, design and engineering, and trenching and wiring are eligible for funding, but expenses on the utility’s side of the electric meter, such as transformers and distribution, are not.

The watchdog broadly advised the EPA to make sure funding recipients coordinate with their utility providers early in the process.

The EPA said it has encouraged applicants to do just that in various webinars, and that it knows school districts face challenges on the utility side.

The report also found that the electric school bus program hasn’t been hobbled by supply chain delays or production problems, addressing a concern that was often raised during the program’s early days.