This week, there was a ribbon cutting in Woodland celebrating the rollout of 14 new electric school buses and 16 charging sites that will serve students across local districts.

Highland Electric Fleets and KWRL Transportation Cooperative teamed up to make the project a reality for the Woodland, Kalama, Ridgefield, and La Center school districts.

This comes after a 2024 announcement from U.S. Senator Patty Murray that included $24 million in federal funding for 16 school districts across the state to replace their diesel-powered school buses with low- and zero-emission models. Ten of the 14 buses were fully grant-funded, while the other four cost about $50,000 apiece.

Highland Electric Fleets says the new buses will help transport more than 1,000 students while logging hundreds of electric miles each day.