In South Burlington, the school district leases the electric buses from Highland, which also supplies equipment to recharge them and pays the electricity bills. Those bills are lower than normal because of a deal that lets Green Mountain Power, the utility serving most of Vermont, draw power from the bus batteries when demand surges. They are part of a network that also includes batteries that homeowners install to provide backup power during blackouts. In total, Green Mountain Power has access to 50 megawatts of battery storage from school buses, home batteries and other sources, said Mari McClure, the utility’s chief executive. Over time, Ms. McClure said, enough electric school buses and home batteries may be connected to the grid to stop her utility from needing to buy electricity from out-of-state power plants.

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Persons: Mari McClure, McClure Organizations: Power, Electric Power Research Institute Locations: South Burlington, Highland, Vermont