The state of West Virginia entered into an agreement/economic partnership with GreenPower Motor Company in January 2022 to launch an all-electric school bus pilot project in selected West Virginia Counties. GreenPower is a Canadian-based company with U.S. operations in California and South Charleston, WV. The West Virginia location situates Greenpower to meet not only West Virginia but East Coast demand for its all-electric school buses.

The agreement involved the state of West Virginia securing a South Charleston manufacturing facility, and as part of the company’s lease/purchase agreement for the facility, the state purchased 41 GreenPower school buses for $15 million. The company began operations in August 2022. Selected school districts piloted the buses during the 2022-2023 school year, generally praising the buses for their safety, handling, and range of performance in all conditions. In December 2023, GreenPower delivered the first four buses to school districts in Cabell, Clay, Kanawha and Monongalia Counties.

In addition to the state’s original purchase of 41 GreenPower buses, an additional 47 buses were manufactured and delivered to WV school districts in 2024 as a result of an $18.5 million Environmental Protection Agency grant to GreenPower. Additionally, Mon County School District paid for the manufacture of three additional buses, bringing the total number of buses in this round to 50. With the delivery of nearly 100 all-electric school buses, West Virginia will be a leading state in all-electric school bus deployment on a per capita basis, according to Fraser Atkinson, GreenPower CEO.

Workers are being trained by GreenPower senior production staff members and Bridge Valley Community and Technical College.

The following county school districts are using GreenPower all-electric buses: Cabell, Calhoun, Clay, Grant, Greenbrier, Hampshire, Hardy, Harrison, Jackson, Jefferson, Kanawha, Lewis, Mineral, Mingo, Monongalia, Putnam, Raleigh, Ritchie, Roane, Wood, Wyoming.