Fund your electric school bus purchase!
Application for Equipment 2024
Congratulations to the 2024 Application for Equipment awardees.
| School District | Number of Buses |
|---|---|
| North St Paul - Maplewood - Oakdale District 622 | 3 |
| Red Lake Schools | 3 |
| Eden Prairie Schools District 272 | 2 |
| Edina Public Schools | 2 |
| Minneapolis Public Schools | 2 |
Application for Equipment 2025
The 2025 round of Minnesota Department of Commerce’s Electric School Bus Grant Program closed Tuesday, May 13, 2025. Applicants can expect to hear back from Commerce on June 27, 2025 regarding their selection. Commerce will publicly announce awardees once the contracting process is finalized, currently anticipated to be complete in early August.
What is this grant for? This round will provide funding for districts to get electric school buses operational. This includes:
- Purchasing up to three new electric school buses, or repowering fossil-fuel-powered school buses to run on electricity.
- Deploying charging infrastructure for the buses
- Administering vehicle and charger procurement processes
Who can apply? Independent and special school districts, Tribal contract schools, as well as transportation providers and utilities representing a school district. See the RFP for more details about how each of these terms are defined.
How much funding can an applicant receive? Depending on the district’s financial need and other district prioritization criteria, the Department can cover between 80% and 90% of bus cost, and 65% and 95% of other eligible expenses.
When and where can I apply? Applications will be accepted from Monday, February 10, 2025, until Tuesday, May 13, 2025 at 5pm CST. The RFP is posted publicly online on the Department’s RFP page.
The Department will post equipment funding rounds at least once a year until December 31, 2026, or until funds run out.
What if I have other questions?
All questions about the RFP are to be submitted by email to: energy.contracts@state.mn.us. Responses to questions will be posted to the RFP page of Commerce’s website. Responses will not be provided to questions individually.
MN Commerce has created some resources to help applicants submit applications.
Commerce hosted an informational webinar on Monday, February 24, 2025. View the slides here. Use this video to make sure you're filling out the budget template in the application correctly.