ALBANY, N.Y. — The New York State Legislature has approved a five-year delay to the state’s electric bus mandate, but has yet to approve the state budget, which is now over seven weeks late.
Lawmakers in Albany have approved a 14th deadline extension, funding the government past Memorial Day. The budget was originally due on April 1. As News10NBC has covered extensively, disagreements over the governor’s lawsuit reform proposal, the state’s clean energy goals, immigration policies, and more have held up the budget.
More about the electric bus timeline delay
Once the budget passes, school districts will have until July 2032 to stop buying diesel buses, compared to 2027 under the previous mandate. Districts will have until 2040 to fully electrify their fleet, a change from 2035 under the previous mandate.
News10NBC has spoken with districts that have had concerns over the reliability, cost, and availability of electric buses, in addition to not having enough energy available on current electrical grids. During school budget voting this week, the Pittsford, Hilton, and Dansville school districts all introduced proposals to buy electric buses. Voters in Pittsford approved the purchase of two electric buses, but voters rejected the measure for Hilton and Dansville.
Only a handful of school districts in the Rochester area have started transitioning to electric buses. Gates-Chili has the most in the area with 15 electric buses. Gates-Chili leaders say the buses work well because their routes are short and densely populated. However, leaders in the Naples school district, a more rural area where homes are spread out, said electric buses are more expensive to run — anywhere from five to eight times as much as diesel.
The electric bus mandate is part of the state’s clean energy goals. The state aims to generate 70% of its electricity from renewable sources and reduce its emissions by 40% by the year 2030.
Reaction from lawmakers on the timeline delay
Republican State Sen. George Borrello says this is a step in the right direction, but is still calling for a repeal of the mandate. He’d like to replace it with a statewide pilot program. Here’s his statement:
“For years, my Republican colleagues and I have warned that this mandate was unaffordable, unrealistic and unfair to school districts and for years, those warnings fell on deaf ears in Albany. I am gratified that the voices of so many school board members, administrators, concerned parents and taxpayers have finally been heard. Our schools deserve the breathing room this delay provides.”
“This additional time is genuinely valuable, and I am grateful that Albany finally listened,” Borrello said. “At the same time, I want to be clear: this delay needs to be accompanied by substantive changes. The fundamental problems with this mandate have not gone away; they have been deferred. I will continue to push for my legislation which requires full repeal and replacement with a responsible pilot program that gives us real data and gets us to the right answer. New York’s school districts, taxpayers, and students deserve nothing less.”
Democratic State Sen. Jeremy Cooney says full electrification remains the priority and end goal:
“Full electrification of our school bus fleet remains the priority and the end goal. But the realities on the ground that we’ve heard from school districts made it clear that they need more time to fully make this transition—whether it’s a lack of charging infrastructure, bus availability, or for technology capability to meet upstate routes. This delay is about maintaining our overall commitment to our state’s clean energy goals while giving districts the flexibility and time needed to make this transition a success in the years to come.”
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