Governor Wolf Announces Opening of Another CNG Fueling Station in Pennsylvania

Governor Tom Wolf announced the opening of the third of 29 CNG fueling stations planned as part of a Public Private Partnership. Pennsylvania Department of Transportation (PennDOT) representatives joined officials from Trillium CNG, the Mid-Mon Valley Transportation Authority (MMVTA), and state and local officials in Donora today to mark opening of the facility. The event also celebrated the opening of the authority’s new operational facility made possible by federal, state and local investments.

“This P3 is helping transit agencies reduce costs and use resources available in our own backyard,” said Governor Wolf. “I’m pleased to see the great progress we’re making in bringing these benefits to every corner of the state.”

Through the $84.5 million statewide P3 project, Trillium will design, build, finance, operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement. Following other stations will be constructed over the next five years and Trillium is also making CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

As part of the conversion in Donora, the MMVTA will convert 24 buses and five paratransit buses to CNG, adding to their existing eight CNG buses. The authority estimates saving more than $150,000 annually based on current diesel costs and their diesel usage of roughly 185,000 gallons per year.

The CNG improvements will boost MMVTA’s efficiency and improved operations brought by the new, energy efficient facility that renovated a former steel-mill building into a facility for bus storage and light bus maintenance.

The facility was made possible with nearly $4.3 million in federal funds, more than $525,000 in state investments and $150,000 in local funds. PennDOT’s overall P3 project includes CNG fueling accessible to the public at six transit agency sites, with the option to add to additional sites in the future. PennDOT will receive a 15 percent royalty, excluding taxes, for each gallon of fuel sold to the public at public sites, which will be used to support the cost of the project.

Using the P3 procurement mechanism allows PennDOT to install the fueling stations faster than if a traditional procurement mechanism was used for each site, resulting in significant estimated capital cost savings of more than $46 million.

When the project is completed, the fueling stations will supply gas to more than 1,600 CNG buses at transit agencies across the state. To learn more about this and other P3 projects visit www.P3forPA.pa.gov.