FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE<\/p>\n
Contact: Brittany Marshall<\/a><\/p>\n ANNAPOLIS, MD\u2014<\/b>Governor Wes Moore today announced the launch of the Maryland Energy Administration\u2019s new program to expand the number of electric school buses in use across the state. As a key pillar of the governor\u2019s $90 million climate pledge, the program will help cut emissions that drive climate change and improve the health of Maryland\u2019s schoolkids.<\/p>\n “Many communities are already seeing the consequences of climate change in their own backyards. Now, we need to ensure more Marylanders can see themselves in the progress of climate action,”\u00a0said Gov. Moore<\/b>. “Electrifying our school bus fleet isn’t just the responsible choice for our environment — it’s also the smart thing for our state’s economic competitiveness and our children’s health.”<\/p>\n The Maryland Energy Administration will offer up to $17 million through the Fiscal Year 2025\u00a0Maryland Electric School Bus Grant Program<\/a>\u00a0for electric school buses, charging infrastructure and associated costs. Eligible applicants can receive up to 85% of the incremental cost of purchasing qualified electric school buses. The program provides up to $1.5 million per grantee, with an increased cap of $2 million for income-qualified applicants or large school districts.<\/p>\n Priority will be given to projects benefiting\u00a0Title I Schools<\/a>\u00a0and underserved communities.<\/p>\n Funding is distributed as cost reimbursement, with partial awards available to maximize program impact.\u00a0Local school districts are eligible to submit applications to purchase school buses. Applications must be submitted by the district to support their fleet or fund efforts by their private vendors or contractors.<\/p>\n Any publicly funded school bus procured by an eligible entity for the routine transportation of students for school or school-related programming or activities is also eligible for consideration. Vehicles must be purchased new\u2014retrofits or repowered vehicles are not eligible. A vehicle that has been funded in whole or in part by another Maryland state agency grant may also not be funded through this program.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Maryland Electric School Bus Grant Program represents a convergence of the state\u2019s climate, equity and economic goals. The program enables Maryland communities to overcome the initial costs associated with the shift to cleaner vehicles so that they can receive the long-term savings that come with reduced fuel and maintenance costs,\u201d\u00a0said Maryland Energy Administration Director Paul G. Pinsky.\u00a0<\/b>\u201cBecause of this program, our kids will breathe cleaner air and our return on the investment of public funds will expand. That\u2019s a clear win-win for Maryland.\u201d<\/p>\n The window for applications for the Fiscal Year 2025 Maryland Electric School Bus Grant Program will close on February 14, 2025 at 3 p.m. EST. Full details on eligibility, program guidelines and the application process are available on the\u00a0program webpage<\/a>.<\/p>\n For more information contact Natalie Buscemi, Transportation Program Manager, at\u00a0transportation.mea@maryland.gov<\/a> or 410-537-4071.<\/p>\n -###-\u00a0<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brittany Marshall ANNAPOLIS, MD\u2014Governor Wes Moore today announced the launch of the Maryland Energy Administration\u2019s new program to expand the number of electric school buses in use across the state. As a key pillar of the governor\u2019s $90 million climate pledge, the program will help cut …Learn more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":214,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[25,10,4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6301","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-main","category-news","category-press-releases"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6301","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/214"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6301"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6302,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6301\/revisions\/6302"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.maryland.gov\/mea\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}