ROCHESTER, N.Y. – School districts across New York are trying to figure out how to deal with the upcoming mandate to transition to electric buses. As it stands now, they must stop buying diesel buses by 2027 and they must stop using all diesel buses by 2035.

As News10NBC has been reporting, districts have major concerns about the cost of electric buses, battery life, infrastructure, and whether there’s even enough room on the electric grid locally to power them.  State lawmakers on both sides of the aisle are now taking a closer look at the timeline to see if adjustments need to be made.

NYS Senator Jeremy Cooney, a democrat, is the Chair of the Senate Transportation Committee and supports the transition to electric school buses. “When we have more large transportation vehicles using all electric as a source of energy, we put less carbon into our atmosphere and we’re all in a healthier environment for it,” he tells News10NBC. 

But it’s becoming clear, the mandate may be a bit ahead of its time.

Jennifer Lewke (News10NBC):  “We have some pretty hard deadlines coming up and a lot of districts are very concerned about being able to meet them.”

Senator Jeremy Cooney: “Let’s see where the technology goes, we are moving very quickly on battery storage, battery technology that we believe could be implemented successfully in bussing and mass transit overall.”

Jennifer Lewke: “How hard is the timetable for the transition and are there discussions in Albany about stretching it out a little or maybe starting with 5 school buses and then 10 and then 20?”

Senator Jeremy Cooney: “Yeah, I don’t think there’s any interest here in the state capitol for just abandoning the concept because this was obviously something that was well agreed upon. What I do think there is flexibility in is the timeline for implementation as the technology comes online, as the supply available for these buses becomes available.”

Jennifer Lewke: “There’s also the issue of the power it’ll take to pull off the mandate.  I think you were there when I asked Trish (CEO of RG&E) about the availability of power on the grid locally, I mean a number of our local towns are already out of space on the grid.” 

Senator Jeremy Cooney:  “Outside of the bus technology and the battery technology, do we have the charging infrastructure in place to manufacture, install and then power and that’s a very fair question because that has nothing to do with the bus itself, it has everything to do with the grid and our availability to get electricity.”

Jennifer Lewke: “I think there is a question among some school districts about whether there may be something other than just 100% electric, are you open to that?  RTS is using hydrogen.”

Senator Jeremy Cooney: “Absolutely….The hydrogen RTS buses are still powered by electric it’s just what is powering the electricity so plugging in versus a hydrogen source… It is still carbon neutral, it is still about making sure that we are not using fossil fuels but I’m open, I think hydrogen is a good intermediary step.”

Jennifer Lewke: “The sheer cost of any option is also something to consider.”

Senator Jeremy Cooney: “Not all districts are the same, Greece is huge, Henrietta is huge, RCSD doesn’t even have a fleet, so each district has to have some flexibility and I’m more than willing not only to meet and listen to them but to talk to my colleagues involved in environmental conservation to see what we can be doing, as long as we are moving forward, not backward.”

Just last week, Republicans in the State Assembly introduced a bill that would allow school districts to opt-out of the electric school bus mandate. Senator Cooney is not in support of that but is open to reviewing the transition timeline. 

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