Silver Chips, a Montgomery Blair High School-led publication highlighted Montgomery County Public School’s recent decision to electrify its school bus fleet, quoting AEE’s Claire Alford on the benefits of electric buses. Read snippets below and the full story here.

On Feb. 23, the Montgomery County Board of Education unanimously approved a four-year deployment contract—from this 2021 to 2024—to begin transitioning from diesel to electric school buses. After those four years, MCPS will decide whether or not to extend the contract; if extended, MCPS will be on track for an entirely electric school bus fleet by 2035.

The contract authorizes MCPS to pay $1.3 million to Highland Electric Transportation (HET), a company that leases electric school buses to school systems across the country, for 326 new electric school buses. HET's bundled service contact will also provide MCPS with resources for ongoing training, maintenance, and charging for the vehicles...

HET is a part of Advanced Energy Economy (AEE), a national association of businesses dedicated to making energy clean and affordable. Claire Alford, a policy associate at AEE who specializes in electric vehicles, explained that another benefit of electric school buses is the reduction of noise pollution because electric vehicles are quiet. According to National Geographic, noise pollution can cause health problems for humans and wildlife.

Read the full story here.