Distributed Energy Resources, GHG Emissions  -  August 28, 2024

Oakland Unified School District Fully Electrifies Bus Fleet

The Oakland Unified School District (OUSD) announced that it has deployed an all-electric fleet of school buses, making it the first major school district in the U.S. to transition to a 100% electrified school bus system.

The District received 74 buses from Zūm, a student transportation company, to complete its fleet. The District's EV fleet is equipped with groundbreaking vehicle-to-grid (V2G) technology, enabling the buses to return energy to the grid at scale when not in use.

Each of the buses has its own bidirectional charger that is managed via an AI-enabled Virtual Power Plant (VPP). The all-EV fleet will decarbonize student transportation while sending 2.1 gigawatt hours of energy back to the grid annually.

Student transportation moves 27 million students twice daily while over 90% of the nation's 500,000 school buses run on carbon-based fuels, releasing over 8.4 million tons of GHG annually. Oakland's EV fleet will help remove 25,000 metric tons of GHG  from the environment.

"OUSD is proud to lead the way with safe and sustainable transportation for our students," said Superintendent Dr. Kyla Johnson-Trammell of Oakland Unified School District in a statement. "This is a landmark achievement, especially in Oakland, where families are disproportionately impacted by exposure to air pollution and high rates of asthma and other respiratory ailments. Zum's electric school buses provide our students quieter, cleaner rides to and from school, giving them a better chance at success in the classroom, while ensuring the District is doing its part to cut down on air pollution to the benefit of all Oakland residents."

Pacific Gas and Electric Company worked closely with Zum to complete the site, which involved extensive infrastructure upgrades and other equipment to power 74 bi-directional EV chargers. PG&E was able to provide 2.7 megawatts of load to Zum's Oakland EV-ready facility in record time, allowing this project to be deployed one year ahead of schedule.

Other partners that provided assistance to the electrification of the OUSD fleet include the Environmental Protection Agency's (EPA) Clean School Bus program, California Air Resources Board (CARB), Heavy Vehicle Incentive Program (HVIP) vouchers, Bay Area Air Quality Management District (BAAQMD) and Clean Mobility Options (CMO) programs.

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