NGVAmerica Announces 2017 Natural Gas Fleet Program Award Recipient

Atlanta, GA – NGVAmerica – a national organization dedicated to the development of a growing, profitable, and sustainable market for vehicles powered by natural gas or biomethane – recently announced FortisBC as its 2017 Natural Gas Fleet Program Award recipient at its Annual Meeting held in Atlanta.

“FortisBC has shown true market leadership and exceptional initiative in growing the use of natural gas in North America’s transportation sector,” said NGVAmerica President Dan Gage. “FortisBC has accomplished this through a unique blend of customer incentives, marketing and training, maintenance facility upgrades, codes and standards development, fuel station development, and conversions of its own fleet vehicles from gasoline and diesel to clean burning natural gas.”

With over 100 converted natural gas vehicles in its own fleet and with a target of converting 50 percent of its fleet by the end of 2018, FortisBC demonstrates the ethos of “practice what you preach.” This highlights confidence and commitment in the technology FortisBC is promoting to its customers and to the broader alternative fuel marketplace and has enabled the deployment of hundreds of customer’s natural gas vehicles in British Columbia.

“We are proud to be recognized for our commitment to helping address British Columbia’s climate action and air quality goals through the use of natural gas for transportation,” said Sarah Smith, director of natural gas for transportation at FortisBC. “By focusing on internal and external fleets, we have helped meet GHG emission reduction goals, improved air quality in local communities, and provided a cost effective alternative fuel choice to our customers, using a domestic rather than an imported resource.”

In addition to the conversion of its own fleet vehicles, FortisBC exhibits leadership through its support of the Province of British Columbia’s Greenhouse Gas Reduction (Clean Energy) Regulation. This program has enabled FortisBC to provide financial incentives to customers to help put over 700 natural gas vehicles on BC roads since 2010.

“Natural gas vehicle technology is mature and proven,” added Gage. “It is affordable, and it is commercially-ready right now for heavy-duty vehicle uses, unlike battery and other proposed alternative fuel schemes. So, if we are truly serious about significantly reducing NOx emissions, diesel particulate matter, and GHG emissions in the very near term, it’s critical that we incentivize and support the deployment of NGVs in truck, trash, transit, train, and even marine applications today.”

NGVs offer the best, most immediate and most cost-effective investment in significantly improving public health and countering climate change today since over 50 per cent of North America’s smog-precursor emissions and 20 percent of transportation-related GHG emissions come from heavy-duty vehicles.

Find out more about the full potential behind North American pure power natural gas at: www.ngvamerica.org.

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NGVAmerica represents more than 230 companies, environmental groups, and government organizations interested in the promotion and use of natural gas and biomethane as transportation fuels. Its diverse membership produces, distributes, and markets natural gas and biomethane across the country; manufactures and services natural gas vehicles, engines, and equipment; and operates fleets powered by clean-burning gaseous fuels.

FortisBC Energy Inc. is a regulated utility focused on providing safe and reliable energy, including natural gas, propane and thermal energy solutions. FortisBC Energy Inc. employs almost 1,800 British Columbians and serves approximately 994,000 customers in 125 B.C. communities. FortisBC Energy Inc. is indirectly, wholly owned by Fortis Inc., the largest investor-owned distribution utility in Canada. FortisBC Energy Inc. owns and operates approximately 48,700 kilometres of natural gas transmission and distribution pipelines. FortisBC is a subsidiary of Fortis Inc., a leader in the North American regulated electric and gas utility industry. For further information visit www.fortisinc.com.