This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2010, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.
The world just got a little wider for Utahns who drive cars powered by clean-burning compressed natural gas.
Making good on promises to expand the horizons for natural-gas-vehicle drivers, and getting a boost from federal stimulus funds, the Utah Clean Cities Coalition and Questar Gas have collaborated to open a new fueling station near Vernal in the heart of Utah's natural gas fields.
The station opens another segment of the state to NGV drivers, and will allow Uintah County and the region's natural gas producers to fuel their fleets with the home-grown fuel, reducing air pollution in the Uintah Basin. It cost about $500,000 to install the fueling facilities, with Clean Cities covering about a quarter of the cost from a $15 million federal stimulus grant. The money is being used to add new fueling stations, and boost the pressure at existing stations to allow faster fueling.
With 29 fueling stations and an estimated 5,000-8,000 CNG-powered cars on the highway, Utah is already a leader in the use of compressed natural gas as a motor fuel. NGV owners can drive without fear of running out of fuel in the Interstate 15 corridor, while the Vernal station will allow Utah drivers to reach parts of Colorado. Next, Clean Cities and Questar hope to extend the reach into Nevada and Wyoming by making Utah's I-80 corridor NGV-friendly.
Government at all levels needs to encourage the use of CNG. NGV owners do us all a favor, clearing the air, reducing climate-altering greenhouse gas emissions and lessening our reliance on foreign oil by utilizing an abundant, clean-burning domestic fuel. And they're doing themselves a favor. At $1.52 per gallon equivalent of fuel, CNG is not only good for the environment, it's good for your budget.
But, after gradually gaining national acceptance through the 1990s, the popularity of NGVs has lagged. In order to expand the use of this home-grown fuel, which often requires the costly conversion of gasoline engines, the federal government must sweeten the pot for consumers, fuel providers and vehicle manufacturers. But Congress seems unwilling to commit to long-term tax breaks for the industry.
Instead, Congress has thrown up a roadblock, allowing a tax credit to expire that is vital to the expansion of CNG fuel networks. Until Jan. 1, natural gas producers were given a 50 cent credit for every gallon equivalent of CNG they sold. Questar chose to pass the credit along to consumers, keeping fuel prices low as an incentive for consumers to invest in NGVs. Now, some of that incentive is lost. Congress should stop sending mixed signals, and restore the tax credit soon.