Natural gas industry reps tout growing use of CNG fuel at Little Rock rally

Representatives of the natural gas industry made a stop in Little Rock on Friday as part of a 13-city, nationwide promotional tour to highlight the growing vehicle use of CNG and impact of the clean-burning fuel source on the nation’s energy infrastructure.

During the two hour “From Sea to Shining Sea Road Rally” at the City of Little Rock’s Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) station just off Interstate 30 in the downtown area, several speakers shared the benefits of CNG as a low-cost, clean-burning fuel alternative for Arkansas businesses and motorists.

James Jones, assistant Little Rock city manager, told the crowd gathered at the event that the city-owned CNG station at 501 Fleet Street has seen brisk business from the general public, private fleets and City of Little Rock vehicles since opening in 2014.

“We are very proud of this station,” Jones told the 50-plus gathering of mostly natural gas industry employees, and city and state officials. “We get a lot of use from both the city and the business community, which is good to see.”

Jones said a driver of a CNG vehicle in Little Rock can fill-up a 100-gallon tank in less than 10 minutes at the local station. Since opening the facility, the city of Little Rock has invested more than $1 million in the downtown fueling station and has also received grants from the Arkansas Energy Office and Southwestern Energy Co.

The Little Rock official said Arkansas’ largest city has also seen a significant number of city-owned vehicles converted to CNG use. “The city expects to see a return on its investment in the station over the next few years,” he said.

Pat Riley, national organizer of the 13-city, CNG tour that began in Long Beach, Calif., on May 30 and will end next Friday (June 10) in the nation’s capital, said he and sponsors of the event have traveled 2,140 miles and been able to fill up their vehicles with CNG at an average price of $1.74 per gallon, 60 cents less than the current U.S. average of $2.34 for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline.

Riley, general manager of Gibson County (Tenn.) Utility District, said the event has increased the visibility of natural gas as an important fuel alternative for American cars and trucks. “We are hitting on all cylinders,” he said. “We see natural gas as the wave of the future.”

Following Riley, Sen. Jason Rapert, R-Conway, boasted of his work in the Arkansas legislature with the “Fayetteville Shale Caucus” of legislators to educate Arkansas consumers, state officials and lawmakers about the importance of natural gas to the state’s economic future.

“This is clean, safe and abundant energy, and it has had a positive effect on the state of Arkansas,” Rapert said, highlighting the fact that the district he represents includes seven counties that are part of the Fayetteville Shale play.

At the end of the event, Arkansas Energy Office Director Mitchell Simpson recognized Rapert, Sen. Jon Woods, R-Springdale, and Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, for their legislative efforts to promote the use of natural gas in Arkansas.

According to Simpson’s office, which is part of the state Economic Development Commission, there are now 559 CNG-converted vehicles in Arkansas and 12 stations across the state to fill-up. Just two weeks ago, officials with privately-held American Natural Gas of Saratoga Springs, N.Y. announced that the out-of-state company had acquired two public CNG fueling stations from Southwestern Energy in Conway and Damascus.

ANG’s chief executive Andrew West told Talk Business & Politics that the two stations are a “first step” in Arkansas for the New York-based energy investment group, which has a network of more than a dozen CNG stations in several U.S. states.

Sponsors of the “Sea to Shining Sea Road Rally” include The American Public Gas Association, American Gas Association and NGVAmerica, as well as the Arkansas Clean Cities Coalition, a program of the Arkansas Energy Office, City of Little Rock and CenterPoint Energy.

At the end of the tour next week in Washington, D.C., rally vehicles will have traveled 3,144 miles making 13 planned media stops, officials. During Friday’s event, there were more than 20 different CNG vehicles on display at the rally, ranging from 18-wheelers and a City of Little Rock-owned fire truck and trolley car to several different vehicles that were part of CNG fleets of companies like Southwestern Energy, CenterPoint Energy and Arkansas Oklahoma Gas Corp.