SoCalGas to Add 1,000 New Natural Gas-Powered Trucks to its Fleet

Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) said Tuesday it will add about 1,000 new natural gas-powered trucks to its fleet over the next five years.

The natural gas-powered trucks are part of the utility's "green" fleet replacement program that will have residential energy service technicians driving the message that natural gas is the fuel of choice for the road.

The utility will purchase new natural gas-powered trucks from original equipment manufacturers as well as custom-built natural gas vehicles through a collaborative effort with local Southern California companies. Currently, SoCalGas has about 1,000 natural gas vehicles in its fleet.

This year, the first of 50 custom-built 2011 Chevrolet Silverado trucks are in use in Southern California. Working with Torrance-based Landi Renzo USA, Royal Truck Bodies and Wondries Fleet Group, the trucks are equipped with Landi Renzo/Baytech compressed natural gas fuel systems that are approved by the California Air Resources Board.

Southern California currently has nearly 300 compressed natural gas fueling stations serving more than 17,000 natural gas-powered vehicles. SoCalGas plans to expand over the next few years all of its 13 company-owned public-access compressed natural gas stations. At its Riverside refueling station, SoCalGas is field testing a new modular compressed natural gas "fueling station in a box" technology that takes 20 percent less space and can be installed faster than traditional facilities with separate components installed on the site, thereby offering the potential to significantly reduce capital cost and construction time.

Independent sources estimate the U.S. supply of natural gas will last more than a century. Compressed natural gas currently costs about $2 per gasoline gallon equivalent, offering the public significant fuel costs savings. Another major benefit of compressed natural gas as a transportation fuel is reduced tailpipe emissions. When compared to a gasoline- or diesel-powered vehicle, a natural gas vehicle realizes reduced carbon dioxide, or CO2, emissions, reduced nitrogen oxides, or NOx, and carbon monoxide, or CO, emissions, and particulate matter emissions are also reduced.