National trade group NGVAmerica recently announced British Columbia-based energy company FortisBC as its 2017 Natural Gas Fleet Program Award recipient at the organizations’s 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 Dan Gage, NGVAmerica’s newly appointed president. “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 (NGVs) in its own fleet and with a target of converting 50% of its fleet by the end of 2018, FortisBC demonstrates the ethos of “practice what you preach.” According to NGVAmerica, 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 customers’ NGVs 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. According to NGVAmerica, this program has enabled FortisBC to provide financial incentives to customers to help put over 700 NGVs 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.”
Photo: NGVAmerica President Dan Gage (center) is flanked by Mike Bains, FortisBC’s manager of regulatory and commercial development (left), and Gary Lengle, FortisBC’s senior manager of LNG and NGT services (right).
