Dickinson Independent School District was awarded a grant from the Department of Energy, the Railroad Commission of Texas and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality totaling over $2.9 million for the replacement of 25 diesel-fueled buses with new propane-fueled buses.
A requirement of the grant was that 25 diesel buses had to be destroyed and replaced with the new propane buses. In addition, the grant provided Dickinson ISD with an 18,000 gallon on-site propane fueling station at its new Transportation Department facility.
The district has purchased one additional propane bus and two more will arrive soon to add to its fleet of 85 buses. The school district also runs 3 
propane powered forklifts. Dickinson ISD runs 40 maintenance vehicles that run on gasoline and have decided to gradually convert several of them to propane fuel.
Ken Winters, Dickinson ISD fleet manager stated, “Propane is a much more environmentally friendly fuel as well as more cost-effective than diesel or gasoline.” He continued, “Based on our data so far this school year, we expect to save about $175,000 annually on fuel costs by using the propane buses.”
Congratulations to Dickinson ISD for being one of 64 school districts in Texas who run a propane autogas fleet! Interested about those other Texas schools? Go online and check out Case Studies done by the Alternative Energy Division to learn more on those schools who operate propane-powered buses!
