Charged Up
PUSD going green with electric buses
Porterville Unified School District’s effort to go green is now going mobile.
The district has placed an emphasis on solar panels and renewable energy. As part of that effort the district has purchased six electric buses. The district will also install six ABB Terra 54 charging stations at the district’s bus yard adjacent to Porterville High School with the help of Southern California Edison.
PUSD superintendent Nate Nelson said the six electric buses should arrive by April, so the district should be able to begin using the buses this spring. PUSD is a sprawling district, so the district will be limited on how the buses can be used.
“There’s not the technology right now to take electric buses up to Camp Nelson,” Nelson said. But he added the buses will be invaluable when used within the community of Porterville.
Nelson said the district is following the example of the City of Porterville when it comes to its effort to go green with its transportation. “We’ve been really pleased with the effort of the city,” Nelson said.
The City of Porterville will be adding 12 electric vans from Lightning emotors, a company in Loveland, Colo., as part of its Transport shuttle public transportation service. The city hopes
the 12 electric vans will be in use by May.
It’s hoped the district’s charging stations will be in place by August. But thanks to the city, the district won’t have to wait until then to begin using its electric buses. “The city graciously offered us to utilize their charging stations,” Nelson said.
PUSD plans to add more electric buses in the future. PUSD’S goal is to have an all-electric transportation system just as the city of Porterville has.
“That’s definitely one of the things we want to do, similar to the city, reducing the carbon footprint and moving away from some of the diesel buses,” PUSD public information officer Jason Pommier said. “We’re always looking at ways where we can reduce costs, save money and utilize it for the students.”