North Country representatives joined fellow Republicans in Albany Monday to call for an end to the electric school bus mandate, which they say is too much too fast.

Assemblyman Scott Gray was critical of the move to mandate schools to purchase electric buses beginning in 2027, which he said would result in billions of dollars in cost increases for school budgets. 

Assembly members introduced legislation (A 8447) to delay the mandate to 2045, which would also call upon the Commissioner of Education to complete a cost-benefit analysis for each district as well. 

Gray said the concerns regarding the switch to electric buses are shared statewide, with local school administrators and transportation experts all saying the switch is not realistic. 

“We should not expect school districts to meet a goal they are not prepared to carry out. This is not feasible for school districts or taxpayers and we know that because we’ve talked to them,” Gray said. 

Gray also spoke to the cost of the switch, something many north country schools cannot afford. Governor Hochul has also proposed cutting millions of dollars in foundation aid to north country school districts, money that is earmarked to pay for salaries, emergency projects and repairs, as well as advancing educational opportunities for students. 

“The cost of all-electric school buses is astronomical at nearly $1.8 billion each year, with an additional $3.4 billion to implement the infrastructure necessary to house and charge these buses. The kicker is the state is only funding the cost of 3,000 of the 45,000 buses that would be needed statewide to fulfill this mandate. New York state should be leading, not forcing other entities to lead the way. We need to work with school districts to reach sustainability goals and make the transition to all-electric. The voters are rejecting this mandate as we’ve already witnessed, so how can we expect them to accomplish this task,” said Gray.

Senator Dan Stec also called on Hochul to reverse course on the electric bus mandate, offering an alternative to distinguish the feasibility of a statewide transition. 

Stec suggested a pilot program be implemented to evaluate how effective the performance of such buses are in New York’s urban, rural and suburban areas. 

“The electric bus mandate for our schools is expensive and unfeasible. A diesel-powered school bus has an average cost of $150,000. An electric bus is two-to-three times that price, not even factoring in charging infrastructure, meaning replacing and maintaining a fleet of electric buses will cost school districts millions of dollars,” said Stec. 

“Studies show electric buses have an average range of about 150 miles at 70 degrees. When it’s 20, the range is 85-90 miles. For context, I was recently speaking with the superintendent at the Massena School District and each of their buses drives 70 miles per day. For the Saranac Lake School District, the largest school district geographically speaking, their fleet of 16 buses drive an average of 100 miles each day.”

Stec specifically cited Massena and Potsdam as two districts of concern given the extreme low temperatures the north country sees in the winter, coupled with the wide ranging rural districts students live in. 

“Given the unreliability of charging electric vehicles in extreme cold and the long distances buses have to travel to pick up students in these rural districts, you’re asking schools to spend a lot of money for a significantly less efficient mode of transportation,” he added. 

“Instead of forcing an expensive, potentially unreliable bus mandate on schools, let’s take a step back. Replacing this mandate with a pilot program evaluating the efficacy of electric buses statewide would prevent further financial distress and allow our schools the flexibility they need.”

Assemblyman Ken Blankenbush also spoke against the measure, saying the extreme costs associated with purchasing each bus was prohibitive to the process and is not feasible. 

“New York Democrats expect school districts to cough up millions in the next three years to invest in their electrification dystopia. The fast rate of electrification is severely unrealistic, especially when schools are receiving less aid in executive budgets,” said Blankenbush. “Electric buses do not have the mile capacity or energy to traverse large landscapes and winter climates. This is another poor policy created with only thoughts of New York City needs through one-party ruling,” he said.