Natural gas for transportation picking up steam in Texas

Texas natural gas motor fuel tax revenues nearly doubled over past year

Natural gas for transportation in Texas is quickly becoming “mainstream” according to State tax revenues, says Railroad Commissioner David Porter.

Porter made the announcement Thursday during his Fort Worth Texas Natural Gas Workshop, hosted by the TCU Energy Institute. Porter reported tax revenue from sales of compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) motor fuel totaled $3,033,600 as of May 31 for FY 2015.

“Natural gas vehicles are becoming mainstream faster than expected. These collections are nearly double the amount collected last year at this time,” Porter said.

“At 15 cents per gallon equivalent, $3,033,600 of motor fuel tax equates to the sale of 20,224,000 gallon equivalents of natural gas.”

A “gallon equivalent” is the amount of CNG or LNG with the same energy content as a gallon of gasoline or diesel fuel.

“These figures reflect the growth in natural gas refueling infrastructure in Texas over the past year.  The number of vehicles toped 7,900 and the number of stations has increased by 30 percent, to 137, with an additional 44 coming on line in the next 12 to 18 months.”

A quick glance at the Texas Natural Gas Refueling Map shows how much progress industry has made in creating the infrastructure needed for fleet operators to take advantage of the cost savings and energy-security benefits of this abundant, domestic fuel.”

The Railroad Commission also released data showing that investment in natural gas vehicles and fueling stations in Texas totaled $261 million in the past two years.

“The figures also demonstrate a close balance—$108 million for natural gas vehicles and $153 million for fueling stations—which means this robust market growth is viable and long-term, because we are addressing both sides of the old ‘chicken-and-egg’ problem,” Porter said.

Private capital represents $239 million of the total invested, according to the Commission.

“This indicates investors’ confidence in natural gas as a transportation solution,” said Porter.

amp Trillium, LLC, a joint venture between ampCNG and Trillium CNG, announced last week that it has opened two new public-access CNG stations, one in Brock and the other in Kerrville. The stations will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and are accessible by Class-8 trucks.

“Since September 2014, the number of natural gas fueling stations in Texas has increased by 25 per cent. We’re working hard to enable the use of CNG throughout Texas and are excited to have come one step closer with the opening of these new stations,” said Donna Rolf, president of ampCNG.

amp Trillium is creating a network of CNG refueling stations along trucking corridors throughout the United States. Together, ampCNG and Trillium CNG now operate seven CNG stations across Texas and 19 CNG stations across the country. The new stations in Brock and Kerrville bring necessary refueling locations to the I-20 and I-10 corridors, respectively.

“The amp Trillium CNG network in Texas enables us to meet the rapidly increasing demand for CNG in the state,” said Mary Boettcher, president of Trillium CNG.

“The fuel’s low cost and low carbon emissions coupled with the reliability of our high-performance fast-fill network make natural gas an ideal alternative to petroleum-based fuels for fleets in Texas.”

The new stations will primarily service CNG trucks operated by haulers for the dairy industry.