County to have nation’s largest renewable energy-powered, zero-emission bus depot

Microgrid is part of goal targeting 100% reduction in carbon emissions

June 14, 2024 6:48 p.m.

Montgomery County broke ground Friday in Derwood on what will be the largest renewable energy-powered, zero-emission bus depot in the nation, marking a major step forward toward the county’s goal of a 100% reduction in carbon emissions by 2035.

“When we started out on this journey of trying to deal with climate change and adopted our climate plan … I confess that at the time, we set really aggressive goals. We did not know how we were going to get there,” County Executive Marc Elrich (D) said at a press conference during the groundbreaking at the depot’s future site at the David F. Bone Equipment Maintenance and Transit Operation Center (EMTOC) in Derwood. “We had an underlying faith that technology was evolving in the right direction.”

Elrich said the project is a demonstration of that evolving technology.

The 5.5-megawatt microgrid project will be stationed at the center at 16700 Crabbs Branch Way. The project is being engineered by AlphaStruxure, an energy service provider based in Boston, and Pepco and will be built through a program called Energy as a Service. This means AlphaStruxure will own and operate the grid, according to the company.

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The new grid will be part of the county’s bus transition plan to convert all Ride On buses to zero emissions by the 2035 reduction deadline. When completed, the project will be the first bus depot on the East Coast to produce green hydrogen. It’s estimated to start operating in 18 months, according to AlphaStruxure CEO Juan Macias.

The microgrid will operate as an “island,” which means it function during power outages.

The bus transition plan recommends replacing 100% of the county’s nearly 400 fossil fuel-powered buses with a mix of battery-electric and hydrogen fuel-cell electric buses, while also scaling the entire fleet to about 600 buses by 2035. The grid will be used to charge the vehicles, according to officials.

According to the Montgomery County Department of Transportation (MCDOT), 42% of the county’s carbon dioxide emissions come from the transportation sector.

David Dise, director of the county’s Department of General Services, said during the press conference the facility will reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 51,000 metric tons over the next 25 years. That’s equivalent to taking 10,000 cars off the road, he said.

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“I am thrilled to live in a county and to serve a county that really is leading by example and really is paving the way for jurisdictions around the country to do this,” Council President Andrew Friedson said at the press conference.

Councilmember Dawn Luedtke (D-Dist. 7), who represents the area where the bus depot will be  located, cited the recent tornadoes that swept through the upcounty last week as evidence the county needs to become more resilient to address climate change.

“There’s nothing that hits home on the point about resiliency planning and preparedness like having a 12-mile tornado cut through your area,” Luedtke said. “We have to put that top of mind all the time, and this project will help us to keep our transportation infrastructure resilient in the ways that we need to be moving forward as we continue to deal with ever-escalating climate changes”.

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