Clean Energy Fuels Corp. has been awarded a three-year contract extension to supply LNG fuel to Sun Metro, the public transit agency serving the City of El Paso, Texas and neighboring New Mexico communities.
Clean Energy has been under contract to provide LNG fuel to Sun Metro since December 2003, with fleet fuel consumption now topping three million gallons annually. The LNG fuel supplied by Clean Energy is converted on site at Sun Metro facilities to compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel, which powers the Sun Metro fleet of 200 transit and paratransit buses.
James Harger, Chief Marketing Officer, Clean Energy , said, “ The leadership of Sun Metro has long recognized the economic and environmental benefits offered by natural gas fuel. We are pleased to continue our supply relationship with Sun Metro, where we have provided reliable fueling services for eight years, ensuring Sun Metro and its riders that their buses roll out daily to meet community transportation needs .”
Costing less than diesel, natural gas fuel produces up to 23%-percent lower greenhouse gas emissions in medium to heavy-duty vehicles. U.S. Department of Energy reports estimate that 98% of the natural gas consumed in the U.S. is sourced in the U.S. and Canada. Using natural gas fuel can prevent tons of emissions from entering the atmosphere throughout the operating life of a typical bus fleet, while also lowering a transit agency’s operating costs significantly.
With 600 employees and an annual budget of over $60 million, Sun Metro offers fixed route and paratransit bus services within the County of El Paso, Texas and throughout the City of Sunland Park, New Mexico. Sun Metro, the recipient of the American Public Transportation Association’s 2011 Outstanding Public Transportation System Achievement Award, provides service on more than 50 fixed routes, in a region that spans 250 square miles. Annually, Sun Metro transit buses log more than 12 million passenger trips and travel 60 million passenger miles.
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Source: Clean Energy Fuels, June 16, 2011;