NEWPORT BEACH, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (NASDAQ: CLNE) announced a slew of new deals in response to the demand for renewable natural gas (RNG), a fuel produced from organic waste, as more fleets adopt and expand their use of the low-carbon transportation fuel. RNG represents more than 74 percent of the 26 million gallons of fuel Clean Energy expects to provide through these recent signed agreements. Clean Energy has a stated goal of providing 100 percent zero-carbon renewable fuel at its stations by 2025.
“Fleets that are looking to lower their emissions are switching to RNG because it can provide immediate and significant carbon reductions,” said Chad Lindholm, vice president, Clean Energy. “They’re finding that RNG is the easiest and most cost-effective way to meet sustainability goals.”
Clean Energy signed a multi-year agreement with the City of Pasadena for an anticipated 1.5 million gallons of RNG to fuel 53 vehicles, including solid waste, transit buses, dump trucks and street sweepers.
Big Blue Bus, the transit agency that services one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the county, Santa Monica, CA, has extended its RNG fueling contract with Clean Energy for five additional years for an anticipated 10 million gallons of RNG to fill its 189-bus fleet.
“Our adoption of RNG has helped cut emissions by more than 70% over the last 5 years, and aligns with our goal of transitioning to a clean energy fleet by 2030, as well as the City of Santa Monica’s plans for carbon neutrality by 2050,” said Ed King, director, Santa Monica Department of Transportation.
Gold Coast Transit, which serves Ventura County, CA has signed a multi-year fuel supply agreement with Clean Energy for an expected 4.2 million gallons of RNG to fuel 56 buses and 25 paratransit buses and vans.
Clean Energy has entered into a long-term agreement with Cedar Bus Company, of Buffalo, NY, to provide an estimated two million gallons of fuel to power 60 shuttle buses that provide paratransit and university transportation.
The City of Sacramento, County of Sacramento, and the City of Redlands have all extended their RNG supply agreements with Clean Energy for an anticipated 1.5 million gallons to fuel refuse trucks and other vehicles.
KALM Energy, based in Lincoln, NE, has contracted with Clean Energy to take over operations of its three CNG stations that fuel transit buses, refuse trucks, heavy-duty trucks and passenger vehicles with annual gallons estimated at 1 million gallons. The first site fuels the Omaha Metro Transit Agency, and two public access stations, located in Lincoln and Council Bluffs, IA, fuel natural gas fleets in the region.
Clean Energy has been contracted by the City of Fort Smith, AR, to build a $1.8 million station for the city’s sanitation department to fuel refuse trucks and provide maintenance services at the site. Clean Energy has also signed an agreement to provide $380,000 in facility modifications for the City’s sanitation maintenance facility.
“One of our goals is to improve air quality in the city and increase CNG use where deemed appropriate. The city’s transit department built its CNG fueling station in 2019. It’s time for solid waste to make the conversion,” says Kyle Foreman, director of solid waste services, Fort Smith.
The Olathe School District in Kansas has contracted with their transportation provider DS Bus Line to run 30 CNG school buses in place of 30 diesel buses for an estimated 75,000 gallons of CNG per year. DS Bus Line, the transportation operator for Olathe Schools, utilized a grant to purchase CNG school buses. The buses will be deployed and operable for the upcoming school year.
Clean Energy is facilitating station expansions for national solid waste company Republic Services in two additional California locations, allowing it to double the number of RNG-fueled trucks in Sun Valley and accommodating an additional 34 refuse trucks in Pacheco. Clean Energy currently provides RNG for Republic Services trucks in 22 states.
Adopt-A-Port
RoadEX, a large California drayage company, is adding 16 new natural gas trucks to their fleet through the Chevron and Clean Energy partnership Adopt-A-Port program. In migrating from diesel fuel to RNG, RoadEx has committed to an approximate 960,000 gallons of RNG over the contract term.
“RoadEx puts the environment first and are excited about adding the new near-zero emission CNG trucks to our fleet,” says Eric Hooper, driver and terminal relations manager, RoadEx. “Thanks to the hard work of people at the SCAQMD, Velocity Truck Centers, and Clean Energy. Our partnership with these companies and government agencies to help protect the air quality in Southern California has been and will continue to be an important part of our effort to help reduce pollution in the state of California.”
In recent detailed nine-page letter sent to Environmental Justice groups, Wayne Nastri, Executive Officer of the South Coast Air Quality Management District in Southern California, emphasized the important role RNG heavy-duty trucks can play in improving the air quality around the Ports. In the letter Mr. Nastri states, “Near-zero emission (NZE) technology has been commercially demonstrated and is available today, has sufficient fueling infrastructure that is largely funded by the private sector, and is at least 90% cleaner than new diesel trucks on NOx and 100% cleaner on cancer-causing diesel particulate matter. When fueled by renewable natural gas, these vehicles can also provide substantial greenhouse gas emission reductions. Further, these vehicles are far more cost-effective than ZE trucks (electric trucks), allowing limited incentive funds to stretch further.”
In addition to RoadEx, companies that added natural gas trucks through Adopt-A-Port in the second quarter of 2021 include Total Distribution Service, Inc., Supra National Express, JL Xpress, Inc., Pac9 Transportation, Atlas Marine, Kargo Transportation, Henean Trucking, Inc., France C. Alegre Trucking and NGL Logistics for an anticipated combined total of 1.3 million gallons of RNG.
TouchPoint
More than 50 PacLease technicians recently completed TouchPoint training on behalf of Amazon. Clean Energy’s TouchPoint training is becoming an essential customer care resource for companies adopting natural gas vehicles, including Saia LTL Freight, Kehe, TTSI, American Pacific Forwarders, Pac Anchor, STS Logistics, Pacifica, Golden State Peterbilt, and Pacific Green. Clean Energy partners with the Natural Gas Vehicle Institute (NGVi) to ensure that fleet managers, supervisors and technicians receive optimal training and support for a successful natural gas vehicle (NGV) launch.
About Clean Energy
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. is the country’s largest provider of the cleanest fuel for the transportation market. Our mission is to decarbonize transportation through the development and delivery of renewable natural gas (RNG), a sustainable fuel derived from organic waste. Clean Energy allows thousands of vehicles, from airport shuttles to city buses to waste and heavy-duty trucks, to reduce their amount of climate-harming greenhouse gas. We operate a vast network of fueling stations across the U.S. and Canada. Visit www.cleanenergyfuels.com and follow @CE_NatGas on Twitter.
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 without limitation statements about amounts of RNG and CNG expected to be consumed, numbers of vehicles expected to be deployed, and the benefits of RNG and CNG. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in these forward-looking statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and, unless otherwise required by law, Clean Energy undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances. Additionally, the reports and other documents Clean Energy files with the SEC (available at www.sec.gov) contain risk factors, which may cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements contained in this news release.
