Kansas City Regional Clean Cities Awarded $3.8 Million DOE Grant

Metropolitan Energy Center and Kansas City Regional Clean Cities have been selected by the U.S. Department of Energy for federal funding to move the adoption of clean, domestic fuels even further into the transportation mainstream. The Office of Energy Efficiency and Renewable Energy announced that Kansas City Clean Cities was one of five organizations nationwide sharing a total of $13.4 million in competitive grants.

This funding will assist multiple projects and fuels in both Missouri and Kansas.  Private- and public-sector partners will cover just over half of total costs with their own commitments to cleaner fleets, new infrastructure and improved fueling facilities.

The grant covers the following natural gas projects:

• An expanded time-fill CNG fueling facility for the City of Garden City, Kansas, and new CNG-powered heavy duty trash haulers
• Publicly accessible CNG fueling at the Sapp Brothers Travel Center in Harrisonville, Missouri
• Additional CNG and electric-drive (EV) vehicles for Kansas City, Missouri’s municipal fleet
• Expanded public CNG fueling for the City of El Dorado, Kansas
• Expanded time-fill CNG fueling infrastructure for the Blue Springs, Missouri R-IV School District
• New public CNG stations along I-70 in Salina and Wakeeney, Kansas

Although designed for access by any CNG vehicle, the two stations in Salina and Wakeeney are planned with heavy freight traffic in mind. They will close a natural gas fueling gap that stretches from Topeka to Denver, and will further encourage CNG adoption by additional freight fleets.

The Metropolitan Energy Center projects a cumulative reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of 3,377 metric tons by the end of year three of the project and the elimination of 46,375 barrels of petroleum.  A conservative estimate shows savings of $888,615 in fuel costs through the end of year three for our partners and for fleets and drivers making the switch to the cleaner, domestically produced fuel.