Officials with Trigg County Public Schools received positive news earlier this week, when the Environmental Protection Agency awarded the district more than $1.9 million in federal rebate incentives for the purchase of five electric school buses and their respective charging and housing implements.
TCPS organized and submitted their grant application in August, under the advisement of Transportation Director Erin Eagleson — whose ultimate goal is to make sure all “trip” buses for students and athletes have air conditioning.
With a sticker price of nearly $375,000 per bus, the in-full grant requires a complete decommission and strip-down of any buses replaced — as a promise to replace dilapidated petroleum vehicles and lower fossil fuel emissions across the country. The buses must be parted out, recycled, and their engine blocks drilled — never to see the road again.
Eagleson noted that a surplussed bus typically draws between $500 to $1,800 at public auction.
Trigg County was one of 10 Kentucky school districts awarded in this first batch of incentives, which locally includes both Caldwell and Christian counties.
Eagleson said in August that the district had already been approved for an $80,000 Kentucky Energy and Environment Cabinet (EEC) grant to purchase two “clean diesel” bus models, which would roughly shave 25% off of the sticker price.
Combined, Trigg County Schools could soon have up to seven new green-energy buses in the district fleet.
