how can I get a CNG filling station in my area?

[dyno]

I live in West Michigan and gas is over $4 now I'm convinced that CNG is the right thing to do but the closest station is over 30 miles away...any ideas to get a local gas company to take the leap???

[dyno]

What should a person do if they wish to run cng and they dont have a local filling station?? will the price of a home unit offset the savings on the fuel price? I have two cars burn about 2000 gallons of gas per year the cost of cng here is about $2 per gge. Do you bite the bullet and get the home unit or buy a gas miser.....???

[dyno]

2003 Chevy pickup and a 2004 Chrysler pacifica

[TheBundo]

Maybe find out if any private or gov't fleet is using CNG, and try to get them to open to the public. It's not like there will be an overcrowding problem for them. Here in my area, you can buy from a garbage company, a UPS place, a city, a utility, an airport where cabs & buses fill, a school district, etc.

[moore101]

Maybe find out if any private or gov't fleet is using CNG, and try to get them to open to the public. It's not like there will be an overcrowding problem for them. Here in my area, you can buy from a garbage company, a UPS place, a city, a utility, an airport where cabs & buses fill, a school district, etc.

Where is your area? Could you update your location in your profile please?

[dyno]

any idea how to find a fleet thats using cng? are they ever listed somewhere???

[freedml]

You'd have to buy new cars and a compressor. Are you sure your gas is almost $2/therm at home? In SoCal it's $1 and in Utah of course a lot less. I did it to get carpool stickers but am even happier about it now cost-wise. Gas went from $4.07 to $4.19 at our local 'cheap' station in the last few days. I talked to a woman who is irritated because the gas pump stops at $100 and her Suburban can take up to 28 gallons!

[freedml]

Why not put one in at home?

[John Mitton]

dyno, I merged your two threads as the ask essentially the same question.

[Curtis]

If you go to EERE's web site; http://www.eere.energy.gov/afdc/fuels/stations_locator.html
To see private and public stations in your area.

[dyno]

John sorry for the double post.....must be getting old. I live in West Michigan (Holland) and the closest station is 30 miles north in Muskegon. I am checking with a local trucking company that uses cng to see if they would sell to the public.

[dyno]

Still no stations in my area the search for a fleet in this area has been fruitless any other ideas???

[CraziFuzzy]

Just as already listed, a home unit is probably your best bet. A public station is an expensive endeavor to start from nothing, and if you are the only car in the area, the payoff will not be there for anyone to build it.

[dyno]

so whats the best home fueling unit a fuel maker? or the phill

[cnghal]

Dyno,
Phils are barely good enough for a GX, if your planning on having two vehicles you'll need a least an FMQ2-36. All depends on gallons per day and time parked to slow fill. ^

[BigDReefer]

I'm jumping in on this thread as well... as a fellow Hollander (nice to meet you dyno, maybe I'll see you at a pump ;) ) I am thinking about putting in a home fill station as well.

Some websites of manufacturers that make homefill stations would be awesome!

I appreciate all the help guys, and thanks dyno for posting this thread ^

[BigDReefer]

BTW, I see the pacific pride in Grand Rapids has a fill station... I wonder if the one here in Holland (off of Chicago Drv) has one and it's just not listed?

My car is actually parked in that parking lot right now lol... We tried to make it through the storm and water killed it! had to tow it there till I can get it looked at :(

Maybe I'll take a look tomorrow...

[cnghal]

Check out http://www.fuelmaker.com/Products/NaturalGasRefueling/Applications/Residential.htm
If either of you Hollanders has a business, you could put in a Fuelmaker fueling station at your business for your "fleet", take the infrastructure tax credit and get the $.50 per GGE tax rebate.:)
You might also want to contact the Lansing Area Clean Cities Coalition http://www.michigancleancities.org/ and see if anyone has anything in the works or just to join up.

[dyno]

Reefer the only stations I can find are GR and Muskegon....I wonder if you could somehow start a alternative fuel coop......sell cng and biodeisel, e85, at a lower cost becouse its the right thing to do.....???

[cngacrossusa]

Another idea you could consider is having MOBILE cng in a trailer. See Tulsa Gas Tech website at:
http://www.tulsagastech.com/trailer.htm
which has either 20 or 40 bottle option. I think DOT tanks are 6 gge each, so you would have either 120 gge or 240 gge on the trailer.

Might make sense if several of you go together and buy the trailer and then periodically drive the 30 miles to fill up the trailer.

Tulsa Gas Tech also has a Fuelmaker fmq8-36 for $16,000 with is great unit for small fleet, especially if you had some storage like the trailer.

Good luck and let us know what you end up doing.

cngacrossusa (CNG - - cleanest fuel on the planet, except for solar & wind)

[cngmike]

Think used equipment. Norwalk compressors can usually bought as a relative bargain, but you need to be careful with oil carry over. Used dispensers abound and card reader. Or cheaper would be a Micro Motion and a 5 way valve. and the honor system. This is fine for a non public station. you sell to the public and its weights and measures compliant. If you are going to fill all your vehicles at one location over a period of time Time fill is the key word. One of my friends has a fleet of 11 vehicles that he fills over night at his business it cost him about $1.50 a gge that includes electricity, depreciation and maintenance. He is planing an adding a small amount of ground storage for emergency quick filling.

[636karl]

Maybe find out if any private or gov't fleet is using CNG, and try to get them to open to the public. It's not like there will be an overcrowding problem for them. Here in my area, you can buy from a garbage company, a UPS place, a city, a utility, an airport where cabs & buses fill, a school district, etc.

Here in MO, a private individual can't purchase from the local utility or any of the private fleet pumps as the local utility 'public' pump requires a Fuelman card which private individuals can't obtain. How was it worked out for fleet CNG pumps to be opened up to the public with payment and liability issues?

[cngacrossusa]

Hey 636Karl,

Where in Missouri is there a private cng refueling point that accepts Fuelman as payment??

For cross-country trip for purchase of dedicated cng Honda Civic GX (ie from NY to OK), I went ahead and got Fuelman cards by applying as a small business. Was no problem, really.

Please post any locations at all that I can get fuel in MO as only ones I know of are terrible pump in St Louis (LaClede) and the Springfield, MO pump (Bowgen) which is $15 fixed price and you need to call ahead.

Thanks . . . cngacrossusa

[636karl]

Hey 636Karl,

Where in Missouri is there a private cng refueling point that accepts Fuelman as payment??

For cross-country trip for purchase of dedicated cng Honda Civic GX (ie from NY to OK), I went ahead and got Fuelman cards by applying as a small business. Was no problem, really.

Please post any locations at all that I can get fuel in MO as only ones I know of are terrible pump in St Louis (LaClede) and the Springfield, MO pump (Bowgen) which is $15 fixed price and you need to call ahead.

Thanks . . . cngacrossusa

It's the Laclede pump in Shrewsbury (St. Louis). I've been told that Fuelman no longer honors individual accounts, although earlier I was told they were supposed to for CNG use. I've been trying to get a card for about 1.5 months now and am now looking at reapplying as a small business which I am in the process of starting up.

The Laclede pump used to be at a nearby public filling station, but due to low use was moved a few years ago to Laclede's property and now requires Fuelman to use. Hours are also limited.

[siai47]

I was going to travel to Grand Rapids from my home in Cadillac. I called the Pacific Pride station in Grand Rapids to see if their CNG station was operational. They told me that they no longer owned it and had sold it to DTE energy (Michcon) in Detroit. Called DTE and they confirmed that they own all the public CNG stations in the state. Some are on their own property, others (such as Grand Rapids) are on property leased from other full stations. I have talked to this guy before and last winter he told me that DTE wasn't sure what they were going to do with their alternative fuel program. Today he told me that they were going to stick with it and expand their presence in other parts of the state. If you want to push for a fueling station, now is the time to get one sited in your area. Your best bet would be to try to get local government and business to commit to purchase some CNG vehicles (trucks, busses, etc.) if DTE would provide a fueling station in your area. I would forget state government at this time and go with local government dealing directly with DTE. BTW, DTE fuel pricing is $1.95 at all locations:)