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Treasure
Valley Clean Cities Coalition (TVCCC) Progress Report - Item
#5
September 14, 2009
Natural Gas Resale Issue in Idaho
CNG is used by a few fleets with their
own fueling facilities, but has not been available to the
public. Popular understanding was that an Idaho state law
and Idaho Public Utilities Commission (PUC) rule made resale
of natural gas illegal. After some research and obtaining a
legal opinion, the TVCCC has been able to determine that
resale of natural gas for use as a vehicle fuel is indeed
legal and that it doesn’t require the PUC’s oversight. This
opens up an alternative fuel market that has essentially
been unavailable in the state.
Clean Cities FY09 Petroleum
Reduction Technology Project
The TVCCC was awarded $5.5 million as
one of the recipients of the Clean Cities Petroleum
Reduction Technology Project grant program. The Coalition
will be assisting Allied Waste with the conversion of their
fleet of waste trucks in the Treasure Valley area from
diesel to CNG. The grant will help with the installation of
two CNG fueling locations for Allied’s fleet, the area’s
first public CNG pump, purchase of over 20 CNG vehicles and
a CNG conversion marketing campaign.
Alternative Fuel and Idling
Reduction Plans for Canyon County Fleet Vehicles
Canyon County is in the process of
making ethanol more available for use in their fleet
vehicles. A tank for ethanol will be installed and a pilot
program is underway to evaluate the use of E85 in police
vehicles. Canyon County is also working on a pilot project
to reduce idling time in police and emergency vehicles. The
fleet manager is working with a local solar technology
company to provide solar power as the source of electricity
for electronics and communications equipment in law
enforcement vehicles when the vehicles would otherwise be
kept idling to maintain the availability of power for these
purposes. Additionally, the County will be purchasing their
first two hybrid vehicles and installing equipment for
filling tires with nitrogen.
Valley Regional Transit Affirms Use
of CNG
The board of Valley Regional Transit (VRT),
the regional public transportation authority for Ada and
Canyon counties, in July approved a proposal to have CNG as
the preferred fuel technology for the Boise fixed-route
system and ACCESS paratransit services vehicles. VRT will
use part of a $4.75 million federal stimulus grant to
purchase additional CNG buses. Also planned are improvements
to, and expansion of, the CNG fueling facility for VRT
buses.
Boise City’s Fleet is One of the 100
Best Fleets
Over the last two years the City of
Boise has been working to improve the management of its
vehicle fleet. Among other efforts this has included green
fleet requirements and improvement in fuel efficiency.
Efforts have been successful as shown by Boise’s fleet being
selected by Government Fleet Magazine as one of the 100 best
fleets.
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