First Student and Con Edison have completed the first phase of a $9 million pilot in East New York, deploying 10 electric school buses. The buses are charged via aboveground infrastructure because a jet-fuel line runs beneath the depot, and the design saved about 20% in costs and a month versus trenching. Forty more buses are expected by June.
The project is designed to use the buses as flexible grid resources. With vehicle-to-grid hardware and software already installed, the fleet could discharge power to Con Edison's system, helping to meet over 100 MW of expected commercial EV demand by 2030 and reduce strain during summer peaks. First Student aims to scale this capability to 10 MW over the next couple of years.
The pilot also targets communities with high asthma rates, and two buses have rooftop solar. Nationally, electric school bus numbers grew 66% year-over-year to over 8,500 as of June 2026, driven by health concerns and funding programs. However, New York lawmakers have pushed back its all-electric mandate to 2040, giving districts more time to address upfront costs.