Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Wolf has announced the opening of the first of 29 compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations planned as part of a public-private partnership.
PennDOT Deputy Secretary for Multimodal Toby Fauver and P-3 Office Director Mike Bonini joined officials from Trillium CNG, Cam Tran, and state and local officials in Johnstown yesterday to celebrate the opening of the facility.
“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,” says Wolf. “We applaud Trillium for reaching this first milestone and look forward to continued progress on this initiative.”
Through the $84.5 million statewide project, Trillium will design, build, finance, operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement. After the opening of this first station, the rest will be constructed over the next five years, and Trillium will make CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.
According to the governor’s release, CNG fueling will be accessible to the public at six transit agency sites, with the option to add to additional sites in the future.
As reported, PennDOT will receive a 15% 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.
Click here for the full release and a list of agencies participating in the P3 project.
