Dominion Energy Virginia announced plans in late August for the nation’s largest electric school bus deployment.

The initial phase aims to have 50 buses fully operational within Dominion Energy’s Virginia service territory by the end of 2020 — all without any change in prices paid by customers.

Phase two of the project, with commonwealth approval, would expand the program to bring 1,000 electric school buses online by 2025. Once phase two is fully implemented, the buses’ batteries could provide enough energy to power more than 10,000 homes.

Phase three would set the goal to have 50 percent of all diesel bus replacements be electric by 2025 and 100 percent by 2030.

In the coming weeks, bus manufacturers will be able to submit bids and school districts can express their interest in participating in this groundbreaking program to receive the buses as soon as next year.

Dominion Energy Virginia leadership says replacing diesel-powered school buses with electric school buses will have a positive impact on the environment and improve air quality. An electric school bus produces zero emissions. Replacing a diesel bus with an electric bus is the equivalent of taking 5.2 cars off the road. If fully implemented, by 2025, the Virginia program would be the equivalent of removing more than 5,000 cars from the road per year. That means lower carbon dioxide emissions and cleaner, healthier air for everyone, especially children.

Although no announcement has come from Dominion Energy North Carolina, a major electric provider in northeastern counties, school districts in its service area may soon be offered a similar program.

Under the program, Dominion Energy Virginia will offset the additional costs of an electric school bus, including charging infrastructure, above the standard cost for a diesel bus. Operational and maintenance costs are also lower with electric school buses, providing a potential reduction of 60 percent per year for local school districts.

The electric school buses will also serve as a grid resource by creating additional energy storage technology to support the company’s integration of distributed renewables such as solar and wind. The “vehicle-to-grid” technology leverages the bus batteries to store and inject energy onto the grid during periods of high demand when the buses are not needed for transport.

For more information about the program, please visit www.DominionEnergy.com/electricschoolbuses or email ElectricSchoolBuses@DominionEnergy.com.