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Maryland officials: $17M slotted for electric school buses, but program rules will change next fiscal year
Summary
Maryland Energy Administration and Department of the Environment told the PGCPS workgroup that MEA allocated $17 million to an electric school bus program in FY25–26, funded 46 buses in FY25, and will move ESBs into a medium/heavy-duty ZEV grant program with statutory constraints that limit planning funding in the near term.
Maryland officials told the Prince George’s County Public Schools focus workgroup that state funding for electric school buses is real but limited by statutory rules that will change the program’s generosity and scope.
"For fiscal 25 and 26 we had a standalone electric school bus program…of that $90 million we were given $17 million for electric buses," Natalie Bashmi, transportation program manager at the Maryland Energy Administration, said May 13. She said fiscal-25 awards supported 46 electric school buses and 33 chargers and that the standalone ESB program will be folded into the medium/heavy-duty zero-emission vehicle (MHD) grant program moving forward.
Bashmi said the MHD program — written in statute through fiscal 2027 — allocates roughly $10 million per year for vehicles and that the program will cover up to 75% of the incremental cost between a ZEV and a comparable conventional vehicle; she contrasted that with the earlier ESB program, which provided about 120% of incremental costs during its most generous phase.
Timothy Shepard, program manager for mobile sources at the Maryland Department of the Environment, outlined complementary environmental funding and practical limits. Shepard said a Maryland capital fund project planned to open in June 2026 would provide about $3 million in funds and could offer up to $350,000 per bus "but it will not cover infrastructure; it's just a lump sum of money." He also highlighted a practical restriction tied to Volkswagen settlement funds: VW replacement grants are limited to vehicles from model year 2009 or older, which substantially narrows eligible candidates under Maryland’s 12-year replacement cycle.
Both agencies said they are collecting district responses to a recently distributed survey to better target future programs and that, for the near term, statutory limits make dedicated planning grants unlikely in fiscal 2027. Panelists recommended that districts use utility planning programs (which many utilities offer at reduced cost) and consider installing EV readiness items — conduit, stub-ups and appropriately sized transformers — during scheduled site work to avoid expensive later trenching.
The state presenters urged PGCPS to participate in interagency conversations on school construction and depot siting; committee members offered to broker meetings to align school-building and depot plans ahead of future funding rounds.
