Hardin County Community Unit School District #1 and Highland Electric Fleets Partner to Deploy 12 Electric School Buses Funded through EPA's Clean School Bus Program

Deployment will provide savings and healthier transportation for school district in one of Illinois' lower-income counties

ELIZABETHTOWN, Ill. and BEVERLY, Mass., Oct. 27, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Hardin County Community Unit School District #1 (CUSD #1) and Highland Electric Fleets, the leading provider of school bus fleet electrification-as-a-service in North America, have partnered to deploy 12 Blue Bird Type C electric school buses and upgrade a bus depot with 12 chargers over the next two years. The buses will be funded through the EPA's Clean School Bus Program (CSBP), which announced Round 1 funding winners yesterday. Hardin County CUSD #1, a high-priority recipient in rural Illinois, received $4,740,000 for the full 12 bus allotment it had requested.

"We were ecstatic to hear that we were a recipient of the Clean School Bus Rebates," said Andy Edmondson, superintendent of Hardin County CUSD #1. "We have been working towards this day for some time. It is great to see all that hard work that so many people have put in to make this a reality pay off. This will positively impact our school for years to come."

Located in Southern Illinois, Hardin County serves a high percentage of low-income families. The school district covers 182 square miles. CUSD #1 is a pre-kindergarten through 12^th grade county-wide school with around 535 students – 90 percent of whom use school buses to get to and from school. With 14 school bus routes that average around 160,000 miles a year, Hardin County CUSD #1 pays an average annual cost of roughly $642,000. This represents 12 percent of its overall budget – nearly three times as much as the average school district transportation cost and less than 5 percent of the overall budget.

By combining private capital with public funding available through programs such as the EPA's Clean School Bus Program, Highland removes the upfront cost of upgrading to electric school bus fleets. Highland will order the buses and procure the charging equipment, electrify the bus depot, cover electricity, maintenance and labor costs, train bus drivers and mechanics, manage charging and potential vehicle-to-grid participation, and guarantee bus performance for the duration of the 12-year contract – all for less than the district currently spends on transportation.

"We are proud to partner with Hardin County CUSD #1 to support cleaner air, good jobs, and healthier students," said James Rajah, regional business manager for Highland. "By demonstrating that electric school buses are effective and affordable for rural school districts, this project sets an example that can help districts around the state and country simplify and speed their clean transportation deployments."

The electrification project will provide valuable savings to the district, support a cleaner environment, and, most, importantly, deliver healthier transportation options for the 90 percent of students who take the bus to school.

About Highland Electric Fleets
Highland Electric Fleets is the leading provider of electrification-as-a-service for school districts, governments, and fleet operators in North America. Founded in 2019, Highland offers a unique suite of products that make it simple and affordable to upgrade to electric fleets today. Active in 30 states and Canada, Highland is responsible for the first use of electric school buses in a commercial vehicle-to-grid (V2G) program and the largest electric school bus project in the United States to date. To learn more, visit https://highlandfleets.com.

Media Contacts:
Mission Control Communications
[email protected] 

Andy Edmondson
Superintendent
Hardin County Schools
[email protected] 

SOURCE Highland Electric Fleets