Danville Community School Corp. Transportation Director Christi Swanson at the new Danville Schools Transportation Facility. Hendricks Power and Wabash Valley Power Alliance awarded the school district’s new transportation facility with Power Moves energy efficiency rebates.
Hendricks Power and Wabash Valley Power Welcome Flourishing School District’s New Facility to Co-op Lines
A new garden welcomed Danville Future Farmers of America students back to school after a new bus facility sprouted on the previous garden’s plot.
Hendricks Power and Wabash Valley Power Alliance welcomed the new structure and a budding relationship with the Danville Community School Corp., as the building is the district’s first facility on co-op lines.
Danville Community School Corp. maintenance technician Mike Dudek works on a project at the new transportation facility. The district finished construction in time for the start of the new school year.
The Danville Community School Corp. opened its new district transportation facility in August. The structure features five full-size bus bays, a training room, and administrative offices. Wabash Valley Power and
Hendricks Power awarded the Danville Community School Corp. $13,208 in Power Moves rebates for energy efficiency upgrades installed at the new facility. Rapid growth in the town and school district created the need for the transportation center, which includes secure outdoor parking for more than 30 buses that transport nearly 2,000 Danville students to and from school each day.
“Ten years ago, the transportation staff total was around 15 people, and now I’m looking at close to 40 people in my back-to-school orientation meeting this year,” said Christi Swanson, transportation director for Danville Community Schools. “We definitely needed a bigger facility to accommodate all this growth.”
Hendricks Power Energy Advisor Andrew Wray reviews the controls for the transportation facility’s bus block heater system. The remotely controlled system is designed to use significantly less energy than the district’s previous block heaters.
The new facility also provided an opportunity to modernize equipment. Swanson had learned about a more efficient diesel bus block heater system than the one the district previously used to keep bus engines warm for winter starts.
The new bus block heaters are automated and operate based on time and temperature. The previous system could run for up to 24 hours a day during the winter; the new heaters only require about three hours of operation. Hendricks Power and Wabash Valley Power awarded a Power Moves rebate for the upgraded system, which is expected to substantially reduce long-term energy use.
“As long as they are lowering energy, they can save money,” said Andrew Wray, energy advisor for Hendricks Power who worked with the district’s contractor on the rebate. “Anytime a school can save money, that’s a good thing for the community, and for everyone.”
Wray and Swanson at the new transportation facility. The facility is the first Danville Community Schools building served by Hendricks Power.
The new transportation facility is located on the edge of the school district campus, most of which is served by another electric utility. Construction began in mid-2025 and took about one year to complete.
“It’s been great,” Swanson said of working with Hendricks Power. “I didn’t get any calls that there were issues, so I feel like it was pretty seamless.”
The district’s former transportation center now houses administrative offices. Some staff members relocated from nearby schools as those spaces were renovated into new classrooms to support the district’s expanding student enrollment.
“Our area has experienced tremendous growth, and we’re proud to partner with schools, businesses, and other local organizations to support their success,” Hendricks Power CEO Greg Ternet said. “We’re thrilled to welcome Danville Schools to the co-op family, and we look forward to a valuable partnership that will benefit the community.”