NGVAmerica News Week in Review: July 20, 2015

NGVAmerica Conference to Expand Expo Floor and Hotel Bookings
House of Representatives Passes Legislation to Correct the LNG Tax Inequity
Delaware Unveils New Clean Transportation Incentive Program
Arkansas Transit Agency Unveils New CNG Fueling Station Built by Trillium CNG
Arizona Homebuilder Offers Home Refueling Appliance for Homebuyers
Louisiana Transit System Puts New CNG Buses on the Road
Southern California’s Big Blue Bus to Fuel with RNG from Clean Energy
Canadian Waste Hauler Provides Greener Services with CNG Trucks
First LNG Ferry in North America Commissioned in Canada

NGVAmerica Conference to Expand Expo Floor and Hotel Bookings

July 20, 2015

The 2015 North American NGV Conference & Expo at the Colorado Convention Center in Denver, Colorado, on September 15–17 will expand the exhibit show floor by an additional 33 percent to accommodate demand for larger exhibit booths; the floor is currently 85 percent full. Additionally, the Hyatt Regency is very close to if not already booked, so take time now to commit to your hotel needs and take advantage of the room block discounts.

Current exhibitors include:

Adsorbed Natural Gas Products, Inc.
AFV Natural Gas Fuel Systems
Agility Fuel Systems
ANGI Energy Systems LLC
Aqua-Hot Heating Systems
ARPA-E MOVE – U.S. Department of Energy
Bauer Compressors, Inc.
ARPA-E MOVE – US Department of Energy
Bauer Compressors, Inc.
Bristol Clean Energy
Catalina Composites
Clean Cities – U.S. Department of Energy
Clean Energy Fuels
CNG Cylinders International
CNG Source
Comdata
CP Industries
Denso Products and Services Americas, Inc.
FIBA Technologies, Inc.
GAIN Clean Fuel
GP Strategies
Hexagon Composites
Jones & Frank
J-W Power Company
Landi Renzo
Mainstay Fuel Technologies
NGEN CNG Systems and Services by McNeilus
NGT News
OPW Clean Energy Fueling Products
Parker Hannifin Corp
PSB Industries
Quantum Technologies
Questar Fueling
RKI Instruments, Inc.
SPIRE Natural Gas Fueling Solutions
SPX
Swagelok Denver
TECO Peoples Gas
Trillium CNG
Trustar Energy
Tulsa Gas Technologies
Ward Alternative Energy
WEH Technologies
Worthington Industries
Xebec Adsorption Inc.
Xperion Energy and Environment GmbH

Discussions are actively underway with over an additional 60 prospective exhibitors and the floorplan is filling fast. All potential participants are encouraged to act quickly to get the best possible space location by contacting Nick Rastall or Sebastien David toll free at 844.620.3494 or ngv@thecwcgroup.com.

This conference & expo is on track to be the best NGV-centric event in the industry and certainly the largest in the U.S. NGVAmerica encourages members, past participants, and all other interested parties to continue to include the 2015 North American NGV Conference & Expo in their marketing plans for this year. A special thank you to all members supporting this endeavor and for showing conference registrants—including interested new fleet managers and fueling retailers—that the NGV industry is robust and advancing forward. And given the current market conditions, NGVAmerica believes that bringing members, customers and the greater industry together for a focused dialogue is more important than ever.

House of Representatives Passes Legislation to Correct the LNG Tax Inequity
July 20, 2015

This week, the House of Representatives passed legislation to correct the LNG tax inequity by an overwhelming vote of 312-119. The measure was included in the Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2015 (H.R. 3038) legislation to fund and extend the authorization for America’s highway and transit programs through the end of 2015. The Senate, which must still consider H.R. 3038 or its own transportation funding legislation, is meeting this weekend in an effort to bring a long-term highway bill to the Senate floor next week. The authorization for federal transportation funding expires at the end of July, which necessitates the passage of an extension by the Congress. The Senate had previously voted to fix the LNG tax inequity as recently as 2014. The legislation that passed the House of Representatives this week also defines a DGE to be 6.06 pounds of LNG. This change places LNG on parity with diesel fuel by taxing the fuels equally based on energy content, rather than volume. Currently, LNG is effectively taxed at a rate that is 70 percent higher than that of diesel, which creates an unfair penalty on those using domestically produced LNG in their trucking fleets.

For more information, contact Paul Kerkhoven at 202.824.7363 or pkerkhoven@www.ngvamerica.org.

Delaware Unveils New Clean Transportation Incentive Program
July 16, 2015

Governor Jack Markell, the Delaware Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Control’s (DNREC) Secretary David Small and others announced Delaware’s new Clean Transportation Incentive Program (CTIP). Administered through DNREC’s Division of Energy and Climate, the program supports Governor Markell’s goals of creating a clean energy economy, ensuring cleaner air and reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“Delaware is a leader among states in reducing greenhouse gas emissions, improving our state’s air quality and promoting innovation in the transportation sector,” said Gov. Markell. “The Delaware Clean Transportation Incentive Program supports and advances our commitment by offering Delawareans and Delaware businesses financial incentives to purchase new or retrofitted alternative fuel vehicles and boosting investment in electric vehicle charging equipment and alternative fuel infrastructure.”

With $2.7 million in funding available for the current round of funding, CTIP consists of three rebate programs for purchasing passenger vehicles, tractor trailer trucks and electric vehicle charging equipment, and two competitive grant programs that provide financial incentives for the development of alternative fueling infrastructure, and promote innovative transportation projects that decrease greenhouse gas emissions in Delaware. All rebates and grants are open to Delaware residents, businesses, non-profits, fleets and state, county and municipal governments for vehicles titled and registered in Delaware.

CTIP’s components of interest to the NGV industry include:

TheClean Vehicle Rebate offers applicants $1,100 for new or leased dedicated natural gas-powered vehicles and retrofitted natural gas-powered vehicles.
TheHeavy-Duty Vehicle Rebate offers applicants rebates up to $20,000 per vehicle when purchasing new, dedicated natural gas fuel systems for tractor trailers or other heavy-duty vehicles, with fleets limited to five heavy-duty trucks per fleet.
Alternative Fueling Infrastructure Grantsare competitive grants available for the development of alternative fueling infrastructure, including CNG projects, limited to 50 percent of total project costs.

In combination with Alternative Fueling Infrastructure Grants, Innovative Transportation Greenhouse Gas Reduction Competitive Grants are available to help fund innovative transportation projects that demonstrate greenhouse gas reductions in the transportation sector. This grant is for projects that are not eligible for the other four programs under the Delaware Clean Transportation Incentive Program.

Funding for the CTIP program is made possible by Delaware’s participation in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI), a market-based cap-and-trade program designed to reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gas emissions from the electricity generation sector. Delaware’s proceeds from RGGI are invested in energy efficiency, renewable energy, programs designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and other consumer benefit programs that spur innovation in a clean energy economy and create green jobs.

For more information, visit the Delaware Clean Transportation Incentive Program website or call DNREC’s Division of Energy and Climate at 302.735.3480.

Arizona Homebuilder Offers Home Refueling Appliance for Homebuyers
July 16, 2015

Fulton Homes, a hone developer based in Tempe, Arizona, unveiled the first in-home CNG fueling appliances at Queen Creek Station, the homebuilder’s newest community in Queen Creek, Arizona. The company says Queen Creek Station is the first planned community in the U.S. to offer a CNG garage filling option. Fulton Homes partnered with and Southwest Gas to bring this first-of-its-kind program to the public, and BRC FuelMaker provided and installed the Phill home unit for the model home and will be the supplier and installer for all orders. Auto Nation Honda Chandler & American Honda are also supporting the program. Fulton Homes will be expanding the home fueling option to all their communities once the Queen Creek grand opening is over.

Arkansas Transit Agency Unveils New CNG Fueling Station Built by Trillium CNG
July 14, 2015

The Central Arkansas Transit Authority (CATA) unveiled its new CNG fueling station Tuesday, kicking off a plan to transition its entire fleet to natural gas-powered buses within the next 10 years. The station will fuel 15 new CNG buses arriving this month and has the capacity to fuel up to 55 buses in an 8-hour period. The transition to natural gas fuel will save CATA an estimated $341,838 per year using the 15 new buses and $1,264,801 per year once the entire fleet is converted.

“The CNG fueling station is a public-private effort to provide a cost-efficient, environmentally conscious investment for our transit system,” said Jarod Varner, CATA executive director. “With this transition, we are giving our customers the fleet they deserve.”

A $2.1 million contract with Trillium CNG covers the station’s design, construction, operation and maintenance. It is funded through several sources, including CATA municipal and county funding partners and grants from Southwestern Energy, the Arkansas Energy Office and the Federal Transit Administration. The 15 new CNG transit buses were manufactured by GILLIG and funded with $6.9 million in federal and local funds.

Louisiana Transit System Puts New CNG Buses on the Road
July 17, 2015

The Lafayette Transit System in Louisiana has introduced two new CNG buses to its fleet. The new buses are part of a fleet conversion that began in 2011. With the addition of the new buses, only one diesel-fueled bus remains for regular route service, and all other diesel buses are a part of the spare fleet.

The buses cost approximately $430,000 and are expected to provide transit services for the next 12 years. The fleet conversion from diesel to CNG is funded in part through a grant from the Federal Transit Administration with matching funds from Lafayette Consolidated Government.

“As we convert the fleet to CNG, we are more able to take advantage of lower fuel costs,” Public Works Director Kevin Blanchard said. “This helps make our transit system as efficient as possible.” All of the fleet’s CNG buses are fueled at the CNG filling station operated by Lafayette Consolidated Government, which was also launched in 2011 as a part of the fleet conversion project.

Southern California’s Big Blue Bus to Fuel with RNG from Clean Energy

Big Blue Bus (BBB) of Santa Monica, California, has become one of the country’s first municipal transit authorities to convert its fleet to renewable natural gas (RNG), rated 90 percent cleaner than diesel and is considered the cleanest transportation fuel available. Earlier this year, BBB modified its original agreement with Clean Energy to transition the supply of LNG for its fleet to Clean Energy’s Redeem renewable LNG, which is harvested from organic waste in landfills.

With the announcement, BBB unveiled a new Bus ad campaign called “Bigger, Bluer, Skies” to emphasize the lower emissions and sustainability of this type of fuel. Big Blue Bus has been fueling its LNG and CNG fleet of buses with fuel supplied by Clean Energy since 2012.

“City Council has voiced its support for non-fracked, sustainable sources of fuel, and Redeem delivers a fuel made entirely of waste; a more sustainable product at an equal cost,” said BBB’s Transit Director, Ed King. “This makes BBB’s partnership with Clean Energy to use the Redeem fuel a win-win solution.”

Canadian Waste Hauler Provides Greener Services with CNG Trucks
July 13, 2015

Waste hauler Sani-Estrie in Quebec, Canada, Gaz Métro and its subsidiary Gaz Métro Transport Solutions (GMTS) announced the arrival of new dump trucks powered exclusively by CNG. The shift towards greener transport was lauded by the City of Magog, which has contracted Sani-Estrie to take care of its household waste removal.

The Sherbrooke-based family business currently boasts nine CNG trucks, five of which will be used for waste collection in Magog. To facilitate fuel supply, GMTS provided a CNG station at the Sani-Estrie Sherbrooke facility. The new fleet, now in operation, has been refueling through the Gaz Métro network since the beginning of July.

The nine CNG trucks—two tractor-trailers, two roll-off trucks and five dump trucks—are the first of a total of 30 to be delivered over the next five years. In addition to generating medium- to long-term savings for Sani-Estrie, the new fleet will cut greenhouse gas emissions.

First LNG Ferry in North America Commissioned in Canada
July 13, 2015

The NM F.-A.-Gauthier, the first ferry to run on LNG in North America, was applauded by Gaz Metro as the first ship of any kind to run on LNG in Canada. By choosing natural gas as the fuel for its new admiral-ship, the Société des traversiers du Québec is reaching an important milestone in the Québec maritime transport sector and paving the way for local ship owners.

“In support of Québec’s Maritime Strategy, LNG is a concrete solution for fighting climate change and allows local ship owners to comply with the increasingly stringent standards regarding polluting emissions on North America’s waterways,” said Martin Imbleau, Vice President, Development and Renewable Energies at Gaz Métro.

Following an agreement concluded in 2013, Gaz Métro was chosen as the LNG supplier to fuel three new Société des traversiers du Québec ferries, including the NM F.-A.-Gauthier. The ship is replacing the NM Camille-Marcoux for the Matane–Baie-Comeau–Godbout ferry service.