BRUNSWICK, ME – U.S. Senator Angus King, a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee, has introduced legislation to promote electric school buses. The BIDIRECTIONAL Act would create a Department of Energy (DOE) program dedicated to deploying electric school buses with “bidirectional vehicle-to-grid (V2G) flow capability,” or the ability to use the bus batteries to power the electrical grid when the buses are not in use.

Electric school buses work well for vehicle-to-grid because they have large batteries, sit idle for predictable periods, and operate in fleets. If properly deployed, the technology can improve energy efficiency, lower costs, and improve grid stability.

“Vehicle-to-grid school buses are another commonsense tool that can help create a reliable grid, promote clean energy, and cut costs for local towns and school districts,” said Senator King. “The BIDIRECTIONAL Act will expand opportunities for school districts across Maine to transition to electric buses. Combined with electric bus investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, this bill will be an important step towards unlocking America’s clean energy future. It’s a simple, win-win bill and I hope it can get bipartisan support across Congress.”

The BIDIRECTIONAL Act would:

• Create a Department of Energy program dedicated to deploying electric school buses with bidirectional energy flow capability with priority given to applications that demonstrate economic viability and seek to use V2G buses in regions or applications where V2G is promising but not yet deployed.
• These buses could be used for V2G, vehicle-to-building (V2B), and vehicle-to-everything (V2X) applications, which includes grid balancing, microgrid services, offsetting building energy use, and resiliency applications such as using an electric bus as a mobile power station after natural disasters.
• Require DOE to provide a report on the existing V2G school bus pilot programs, and would require states’ public utility commissions to consider measures to promote V2G integration.

As a member of the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee and Senate Armed Services Committee, Senator King has advocated for climate solutions that support Maine communities, unlock America’s clean energy future, and strengthen national security. He has been one of the Senate’s most vocal advocates for improving energy storage technologies and development and worked to include significant storage investments in the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act. 

The BIDIRECTIONAL Act is supported by Advanced Energy Economy, Blue Bird, bp Pulse Fleet (formerly Amply), Community Organization for Resource Efficiency (CORE), EDF, Electrification Coalition, Environment America, Highland Electric, Lion Electric, La Plata Electric Association, NRECA, Nuvve, PIRG, Proterra, and Xcel Energy. For quotes from supporting organizations, CLICK HERE.