Oddly the 15, 16, 48 and 49 are excluded? Those certainly have stretches that could be considered rural.
From what I can tell, the 15/16, 48/49, 65/66 and 157/8/9/60 are the only ones not the be electrified. Plus the 90 but for different reasons.
I'd assume because these are Derbyshire County Council contracts rather than commercial services. Certainly their main purpose is to serve rural communities, unlike any other Chesterfield services where anything that might be considered rural is coincidental to the route.
The 90 is excluded due to a low bridge at Barrow Hill, although it looks like the E100EV is low enough to get under. Whether this doesn't have the capacity for the route, or whether it came too late to be included I don't know. It might also be that alternatives needed to be specified and it seems to be the only EV low enough to pass under.
I guess you could throw in a couple of trips on the 65 to/from Buxton and maybe the Peak Sightseer could be ‘electrified!’
Then there are also the myriad of electric bus services promised when (if) Peak Resort at Unstone ever gets built…!
I'm sure the 65/66 could be electrified, but they aren't included in the bid. They certainly could convert the open top buses to EVs, it would give a strong message as the Peak District does seem to be pushing sustainability. Now the depot is being upgraded maybe that'll come one winter soon. After all, the buses themselves are getting on so even trundling around the Peak District they can't last forever.
From what I've read the services from Peak Resort will be a contract award, however this does put Stagecoach in a very strong position as they will already have experience and a suitable depot. That said, I'm a little surprised they didn't look to relocate the depot to Sheepbridge. The current site is much too large for their requirements and would be very popular for housing. Sheepbridge has lots of empty land, good power provision from the many factories that are / used to be there and would be an ideal location for a new, modern and cheaper to run site.
Like you, I wonder if Peak Resort will ever happen. It was starting to look promising when they stuck that awkward roundabout in, but I was reading they've scaled the plans back again so who knows. Main issue I have with it is that traffic will almost certainly head to the Peak District via Cutthorpe and the back way. No matter what they 'advise', people have sat-navs which will take them the shortest way. And even then, the route through Chesterfield struggles enough on a nice summers day. We really need a bypass from the west of town to deliver traffic either to the A61 at Sheepbridge or by Wingerworth, but I can't see that happening.
Any bus provision they make will end up stuck in the same queues as there is no real scope for bus priority, which will reduce the attraction of using it over the car.