The oil-rich sprawling State of Texas may seem an unlikely environment for natural gas vehicles to gain a foothold, but that is what is happening. The Railroad Commission of Texas (RCT), which has primary regulatory jurisdiction over oil and natural gas industry, pipeline transporters, natural gas & hazardous liquid pipeline industry, natural gas utilities and the like, has created the Texas Public Fleet Project. Awardees of the program have been announced and include several natural gas vehicle projects.

NGVAmerica has provided the following list of recipients (extracted from the RCT announcement) :

• $2.5 million for North Central Texas council of governments to facilitate the implementation of new CNG and EV vehicle and infrastructure development. The funds will be used to purchase or convert dedicated NGVs, electric vehicles, plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs) and/or hybrid-electric vehicles (HEVs), as well as to expand alternative fuel refueling stations to offer natural gas refueling or electrical recharging systems.

• $1,810,388 for Mansfield Independent School District (MISD) to purchase nine new school buses powered with an OEM provided compressed natural gas (CNG) engine and convert four gasoline powered school buses to CNG by expanding the existing CNG refueling station with seven more time-fill refueling structures. The additional stands will allow MISD to time-fill thirty full sized buses at one time. By alternating days of access to the hose, MISD will effectively refuel up to sixty buses within their operational range. The addition of the refueling infrastructure will allow for more future purchases of CNG buses to be added to the existing fleet of CNG buses.

• $924,000 for the City of Laredo to upgrade its existing CNG refueling station. The City is also purchasing a CNG refuse hauler, street sweeper and vacuum truck for the fleet.

• $400,000 for the City of Corpus Christi to expand an existing CNG refueling station to accommodate the expanding fleet of CNG vehicles operated by the City.

• $396,180 for the City of El Paso to upgrade the existing City vehicle depot by implementing newer and faster CNG and LNG dispensing equipment to supply public access fueling as well as expanded fueling to Sun Metro/City of El Paso and El Paso County vehicles as well as other designated federal regional/local fleets with natural gas fueling at a designated existing facility.

• $107,800 for the City of Dumas to add CNG refueling infrastructure to its existing public works warehouse property station. The new infrastructure will be utilized to fuel six vehicles and equipment that have been retrofitted to operate on CNG.

Soll Sussman of the Renewable Energy Division in the Texas General Land Office has pointed out that Texans worked hard to claim a share of the $300 million in incentives from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, and succeeded with $38 million in approved projects. Sussman says in succinct Texan style, “that’s huge.”

The Comptroller’s State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) also set aside $11 million for alternative fuels. That’s in addition to existing federal tax credits and state incentives from the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality and the General Land Office.

Sussman has provided a summary of some additional NGV programs and highlights on the Texan skyline:

• The GLO NGV grant program, to help heavy-duty fleets like garbage trucks and street sweepers start or expand their use of natural gas.  (City of Austin and City of Dallas grants for street sweepers and garbage trucks,respectively, are the first applicants).

• Texas NGV innovators – like Emissions Solutions and BAF Technologies in Dallas, and the NGV street sweepers manufactured in Waco (but mostly sold in California) – examples of Commissioner Patterson’s call  for Texas to be a leader of all aspects of energy, not just production and generation – but manufacturing and innovation.

• The  Clean Energy network of 9 fueling stations in the DFW area

• The Howdy Honda/Texas Gas Service Phill local incentive program in Austin for the Honda natural gas Civic GX, the greenest car commercially available in the US.

• More than 60 natural gas Honda Civic GXs for the City of Dallas fleet

• The longstanding use of CNG for the riverboats on the River Walk in San Antonio – and the innovative CNG water sweeper there.

• Success stories like the DFW Airport, City of Dallas fleet (with more than 1,200 NGVs),  Sun Metro in El Paso, and the Fort Worth transit authority as well as newcomers like the City of San Antonio for its garbage trucks, the City of Beaumont with 15 natural gas buses, and the new City of Austin NGV fueling station.

• The City of Lake Jackson in the Houston area started its CNG program in 2000.  The city fleet now includes  14 garbage trucks, about a dozen light duty trucks and five Honda Civic GXs.

• Dallas Area Rapid Transit – decided to add nearly 600 natural gas buses to its fleet over the next few years.

There appears little doubt that 2010 will be a big year in Texas for natural gas vehicles

Buck