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The La Conner School District is among hundreds of districts nationwide examining the feasibility and long-term cost advantages of switching from diesel to electric school buses.

Key advantages include: reduced use of energy for bus power, accompanied by lower net emissions; stable and predictable energy prices; reduced maintenance costs; and greater student and driver comfort with the elimination of on-board emissions and nearly silent operation.

Electric vehicles have far fewer moving parts than internal combustion engine vehicles. This means reduced maintenance expenses. EV maintenance costs may be about 10-20% of ICE vehicle maintenance costs over their lifetime– an important advantage for schools.

Diesel buses emit exhaust pollutants, including carbon monoxide, unburned hydrocarbons and soot, each of which contributes to respiratory problems and other health issues, particularly among children. E-buses have no tailpipe emissions. Students thus breathe cleaner air. Emissions related to grid operation are not from bus exhausts but at power plants, which have world-class emission-control technologies.

E-buses are much quieter than ICE buses, providing a better environment for students, drivers and nearby observers. They have a smooth, vibration-free ride that improves comfort.

And, as I've written before, electric vehicle fuel use and emissions are lower than fuel use and emissions for similar internal combustion engine vehicles. If a typical electric vehicle was completely powered by a coal-fired grid, with all grid emissions being carbon dioxide, its net CO2 emissions would still be about 15-25% less than emissions from a similar ICE vehicle.

However, no grid anywhere in the world is even close to using 100% coal power. Grid power sources include gas (less CO2) and nuclear and renewable (no CO2) generation. On average, a U.S.-based EV has about a third the CO2 emissions of a similar ICE vehicle. Further reductions are inevitable because the renewable fraction of grid electricity is increasing.

Electric school buses are well-suited to be partially or wholly charged by on-site renewable generation. School districts typically have large parking lots suitable for solar installations. Buses can even, with the right electric rate structure, be powered by renewable energy from the grid that would otherwise be partially curtailed due to low demand. In Washington, overnight wind generation is a potential source of occasional very low-cost renewable electricity.

School districts, even more so than most energy users, appreciate stable and predictable costs. Liquid fossil fuel prices are largely controlled by hostile international politicians and cartels. Diesel prices are thus among the most unpredictable commodity prices in the world. Fossil fuel costs continue to increase. The costs of exploring and developing ever-more remote areas and using expensive technologies like fracking, in the U.S. or anywhere else, are higher than the historic costs of developing the easily accessible oil that has long since been used.

Electric costs are more stable and predictable than fossil fuel costs. Electricity used in Washington is produced wholly within the U.S., Canada and the very small part of Mexico (near Tijuana) which is connected to the western U.S. electric grid. The operators of electric generation plants, of all types, compete with each other, keeping prices low, without significant influence from overseas interests.