Dunn County transit officials table electric-bus purchase amid price uncertainty
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Summary
Committee members were told vendor pricing for Buy America–qualified electric buses may rise sharply above 2021 quotes; staff recommended tabling procurement until updated costs and a gas/diesel comparison can be provided. A $104,000 down payment is expected to be recoverable, and local share is 15%.
Dunn County Transit Committee members on Oct. 8 voted to table further decisions about buying electric buses after staff said vendor pricing that underpinned a 2021 purchase order could be substantially higher now.
Committee member (S2), who gave the update, said a Phoenix-built Buy America–qualifying bus has completed Altoona testing and could be delivered within six months but that the vendor had not yet supplied updated pricing. "Since this purchase order and quote was made in 2021 ... these cab-over buses instead of being $233,000 each, they're in $300,000 each," S2 said, noting that the county's local share would be 15% and that "if you multiply that out, that's another, you know, $30,000 per bus that we would have to come up with." S2 said the county has roughly $600,000 allocated on the capital side for bus procurement.
S2 also said the program paid for two chargers in 2022 and was reimbursed about 98%; remaining charger-related costs are "very, very minuscule," estimated at roughly $4,000–$5,000 net. S2 said the county has a $104,000 down payment that staff expect to recover if a bus order is canceled.
Committee member (S3) criticized WisDOT's handling of the grant and stressed that Buy America compliance and vendor turnover since the 2018 grant have complicated delivery. "Buy America law has been the biggest hurdle because finding manufacturers who can meet that has been the hurdle," S3 said.
Faced with uncertain pricing and limited local capital, S2 recommended tabling further procurement decisions until staff can obtain concrete updated numbers and produce a comparative analysis that includes conventional gas/diesel options and projected electricity costs. The motion to table was made and approved; the committee did not set a new procurement target at the meeting.
Next steps: staff will seek updated vendor pricing, provide side-by-side cost comparisons for diesel/gas and electric buses (including kilowatt-hour charging costs), and report back to the committee prior to any new purchase action.