First of 29 CNG Fueling Stations Opens Under Statewide Partnership in Pennsylvania

The first of 29 CNG fueling stations under a statewide public-private partnership has opened for business in Johnstown, Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf was joined by PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Toby Fauver, P3 Office Director Mike Bonini, and officials from Trillium CNG.

“This innovative P3 is allowing us to help transit agencies save money and take advantage of plentiful supplies of natural gas produced right here in Pennsylvania,” Governor Wolf said. “We applaud Trillium for reaching this first milestone and look forward to continued progress on this initiative.”

Through the $84.5 million project, Trillium will design, build, finance, operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement. The remaining stations will be constructed over the next five years. Trillium is also making CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

CNG fueling will be accessible to the public at six transit agency sites, with the option to add to additional sites in the future. The CNG station in Johnstown is available to the public and truck fleets. PennDOT will receive a 15 percent royalty, excluding taxes, for each gallon of fuel sold to the public, which will be used to support the cost of the project. The team has guaranteed at least $2.1 million in royalties over the term of the agreement.

Using the P3 procurement mechanism allows PennDOT to install the fueling stations faster than if a traditional procurement mechanism was used for each site, resulting in significant estimated capital cost savings of more than $46 million.

When the project is completed, the fueling stations will supply gas to more than 1,600 CNG buses at transit agencies across the state.

Below is a list of agencies participating in the P3 project, in order of construction-start timeline:

Cambria County Transportation Authority, Johnstown Facility (2017), includes public fueling.
Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, York Facility (2017), includes public fueling.
Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority (2017)
Cambria County Transportation Authority, Ebensburg Facility (2017)
Westmoreland County Transportation Authority (2017)
Centre Area Transportation Authority (2017)
Beaver County Transportation Authority (2017)
Crawford Area Transportation Authority (2017)
New Castle Area Transportation Authority (2017), includes public fueling
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Allentown Facility (2017)
County of Lebanon Transportation Authority (2017)
Altoona Metro Transit (2017)
Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Gettysburg Facility (2017)
Butler Transportation Authority (2018)
Indiana County Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling
County of Lackawanna Transportation System (2018), includes public fueling
Erie Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling
Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (2019)
Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation System (2019)
Monroe County Transportation Authority (2019)
Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Bradford Facility (2019)
Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Johnsonburg Facility (2019)
DuBois, Falls Creek, Sandy Township Joint Transportation Authority (2020)
Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Easton Facility (2021)
Luzerne County Transportation Authority (2021)
Schuylkill Transportation System (2021)
Transit Authority of Warren County (2021)
Capital Area Transit (2021)
Port Authority of Allegheny County (2021)