Another electric school bus hit rural Colorado roads in January, thanks to the efforts of its local electric cooperative.
La Plata Electric in Durango follows Mountain Parks Electric in Granby in helping its local school district add an electric school bus to its fleet.
The Durango bus is the first school bus in Colorado to also be able to discharge electricity from its 155-kilowatt lithium ion battery back into the power grid. That essentially makes the bus a battery on wheels. When it is fully charged, it can discharge enough electricity to power 30 homes for up to two hours.
The bus will benefit students, who will have a quiet, fumes-free ride; the school district, which will save maintenance costs; and La Plata Electric, which will have a back-up battery in the new school bus.