The Clean Bus Planning Awards (CBPA) program reduces barriers to zero-emission bus deployment by providing school and transit bus fleets with free technical assistance to develop comprehensive and customized fleet electrification transition plans.
CBPA is managed by the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) and funded by the Joint Office of Energy and Transportation (Joint Office). CBPA connects transit and school bus fleets with technical experts to support planning for bus electrification. Fleets also have the option to receive free deployment assistance from NREL at the completion of their plan. CBPA is not an incentive program, and fleets do not receive direct funding—rather, selected applicants will be allocated technical assistance resources by NREL.
The CBPA opened on Feb. 20, 2024. NREL will review applications on a rolling basis. Fleet selection and commencement of projects will occur on a rolling basis which began in February 2024.