Nevada to get electric school buses thanks to millions in federal funding

The Clark County School District's electric school buses are intended to contribute to cleaner air around school communities. The buses can seat 72 students, travel 100 miles when fully charged, and save roughly $60 a day in fuel costs. (Clark County School District)

By Lorraine Longhi

January 12, 2024

Zero- and low-emission school buses are intended to contribute to cleaner air around school communities.

Nevada will receive nearly $8 million in federal funds to purchase 25 electric school buses around the state.

The Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean School Bus program, part of President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, gives $5 billion to districts across the country to purchase zero- and low-emission school buses that are intended to contribute to cleaner air around school communities.

In 2022, the Clark County School District received nearly $10 million in funding to replace 25 diesel-powered buses that were more than a decade old, in addition to purchasing charging infrastructure for the new buses.

The district, which operates the country’s largest owned-and-operated school bus fleet, also unveiled the first electric school bus in Nevada last year.

The electric buses can seat 72 students, travel 100 miles when fully charged, and save roughly $60 a day in fuel costs, the district said at the time.

The new $7.7 million in funding will go toward the Nevada Clean Energy Fund, which works with Nevada school districts to support school bus electrification efforts.

“This critical funding will help modernize our schools’ transportation system, leading to lower energy costs and cleaner air for our students and their families,” Sen. Jacky Rosen said in a statement about the new funding.

Lorraine Longhi

Lorraine Longhi is a reporter for The Nevadan and native of the southwest. A graduate of Arizona State University’s Walter Cronkite School of Journalism & Mass Communication, she spent eight years reporting in Arizona, including at The Arizona Republic and The Copper Courier, where she covered education, health care and state politics. She returned to Las Vegas, her hometown, last year as an education reporter for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, where she was later promoted to assistant city editor

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