NEW YORK- State legislators are poised to postpone an impending mandate requiring all school buses to go electric, a policy first passed by Democratic lawmakers in 2021.  Today, some Democrats who supported the 2021 policy are citing supply chain issues, high costs, and the need for more time to install charging infrastructure as justification to delay the deadline for electric school buses by five years.

The decision comes just days before school budget votes, and in some districts, electric school bus referendums are on the ballot this Tuesday.  Advocates for clean energy expressed disappointment, warning that the delay could slow progress on reducing emissions and improving air quality.

School administrators, meanwhile, said the postponement gives districts more time to plan and budget for the transition.  Electric school buses cost approximately three times as much as their diesel counterparts to purchase.

Superintendent Dr. Dwight Bonk of the Wappinger Central School District (WCSD), has been lobbying for the mandate to be pushed back. “I do not recommend purchasing electric buses until the ability to power these buses is studied further,” said Dr. Bonk, who has repeatedly displayed his passion for the program, provided it is done in a feasible manner.

A fleet electrification plan completed by the WCSD in 2025 found that fully converting its 261-bus fleet,  the largest district-owned operation in New York State, would require a new 2.5-megawatt utility transformer, 196 charging ports across three compounds, and between $134 million and $140 million in capital investment.

Meanwhile, the WCSD has received no timeline estimates from its utility provider, Central Hudson Gas & Electric. “The critical constraint our district faces is not the availability of electric buses or incentive funding; it is the electric grid infrastructure required to charge them,” the letter states.

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The delay is welcomed by Republican state lawmakers, who voted against the measure in 2021 and have been calling for its delay, and in some cases full repeal, since then.