SEAL BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--President Barack Obama spoke yesterday at the UPS Depot in Las Vegas, Nevada promoting natural gas-fueled trucking as part of his “Blueprint for an economy that’s built to last,” unveiled at his January 24 “State of the Union” address to Congress, according to Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), the leading provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America.
In his remarks, President Obama proposed several federal initiatives favoring the use of natural gas for transportation, including getting more natural gas vehicles on the road using federal fleets and helping local governments upgrade their fleets, offering new tax incentives to help companies buy more clean trucks, working with the private sector to help develop natural gas fueling stations between cities for more natural gas corridors along our highways, and launching a competition to encourage new breakthroughs for natural gas vehicles.
Andrew J. Littlefair, Clean Energy President and CEO, said, “We applaud President Obama for bringing this vital proposal to ‘make the most of America’s energy resources’ to the forefront and promoting ‘safe, responsible development of the near 100-year supply of natural gas’ in our country.”
Littlefair noted that President Obama’s support of interstate natural gas-fueled trucking corridors mirrored Clean Energy’s commitment in 2011 to build the backbone network of 150 LNG fueling stations for its America’s Natural Gas Highway providing LNG truck fueling coast-to-coast and border-to-border in the United States.
The newest Clean Energy fueling station on the Highway is located in Las Vegas nearby the UPS Depot and provides the link for trucking between Los Angeles and Salt Lake City, a vital goods movement corridor in the Southwest.
Clean Energy owns the land and built the station with the combination of its own capital supplemented by funding from the federal government’s ARRA (American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009) program delivered through the South Coast Air Quality Management District (SCAQMD). The government program also provided funds to assist UPS in purchasing its new fleet of 48 natural gas-fueled trucks based at the Las Vegas Depot. Clean Energy signed a long-term contract with UPS in 2011 to fuel this fleet.
Currently priced up to $1.50 per gallon lower than diesel or gasoline (depending upon local markets), the use of natural gas fuel reduces costs significantly for vehicle and fleet owners, reduces greenhouse gas emissions up to 30% in light-duty vehicles and 23% in medium to heavy-duty vehicles. Additionally, natural gas is a secure North American energy source with 98% of the natural gas consumed produced in the U.S. and Canada.
Clean Energy (Nasdaq: CLNE) is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America and a global leader in the expanding natural gas vehicle market. It has operations in CNG and LNG vehicle fueling, construction and operation of CNG and LNG fueling stations, biomethane production, vehicle conversion and compressor technology.
Today Clean Energy fuels over 25,000 vehicles at 273 strategic locations across the United States and Canada with a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, trucking, shuttle, taxi, airport and municipal fleet markets. Clean Energy del Peru, a joint venture, fuels vehicles and provides CNG to commercial customers in Peru. We own (70%) and operate a landfill gas facility in Dallas, Texas, that produces renewable natural gas, or biomethane, for delivery in the nation’s gas pipeline network, and we plan to build a second facility in Michigan. We own and operate LNG production plants in Willis, Texas and Boron, Calif. with combined capacity of 260,000 LNG gallons per day and that are designed to expand to 340,000 LNG gallons per day as demand increases. NorthStar, a wholly owned subsidiary, is the recognized leader in LNG/LCNG (liquefied to compressed natural gas) fueling system technologies and station construction and operations. BAF Technologies, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary, is a leading provider of natural gas vehicle systems and conversions for taxis, vans, pick-up trucks and shuttle buses. IMW Industries, Ltd., a wholly owned subsidiary based in Canada, is a leading supplier of compressed natural gas equipment for vehicle fueling and industrial applications with more than 1,200 installations in 24 countries. For more information, visit www.cleanenergyfuels.com.
Forward-Looking Statements — This news release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including statements about potential federal legislation, the number and location of stations to be included in the natural gas highway system, the timing for the completion of construction of these stations, the availability and deployment of, as well as the demand for, heavy duty natural gas truck engines, and the potential for a natural gas highway system. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements as a result of several factors, including delays in or failure to pass any federal legislation, permitting or other delays encountered during the identification of locations for, and the construction of, natural gas fueling stations, including those stations planned for the natural gas highway, the performance, availability and price of natural gas vehicles relative to gasoline and diesel vehicles and the price per gallon of natural gas relative to diesel and gasoline. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
(For a map showing America’s Natural Gas Highway and list of first 98 LNG fueling station locations, use this link: http://www.cleanenergyfuels.com/pdf/CE-OS.ANGH.012412.pdf )
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