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Natural gas pumping station in Perry becomes Utah's 21st

PERRY -- Utah continues to lead the nation in the number of natural gas vehicles as Questar Gas and Utah Clean Cities celebrate the grand opening of a fueling station at L.W.'s Travel Plaza off Interstate 15.

The natural gas pump -- which will dispense the alternative, clean-burning fossil fuel at an equivalent rate of 63 cents a gallon -- is the 21st public station in Utah.

Utah is paving the way for natural gas vehicles in America, said Ernie Oakes, regional director for National Clean Cities from the U.S. Department of Energy.

"Utah is the leader in public and private natural gas fueling in the U.S.," Oakes said at Monday's ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Utah has more than 60 private and public natural gas fueling stations. Per capita, that's about five times the number of stations in California, another leading state in alternative fuels, according to the U.S. Department of Energy.

Utah has some of the cheapest natural gas fuel rates in the country because of vast local resources and state regulation, said Robin Erickson, director of Utah Clean Cities Coalition.

Questar Gas supplies the fueling stations the same way it provides gas to homes -- as a utility. That way, Erickson said, there's no price gouging.

In California, natural gas can run around $2.50 an equivalent gallon, said Alan Allred, president and CEO of Questar Gas.

In Utah, however, Questar passes the savings from federal alternative fuel incentives on to the consumer, he said. He admits that's not exactly the Exxon-Mobil model of business.

"It's been a long, hard road to get to this point in the natural gas vehicle market," he said, describing the fueling stations spread across Utah and up and down I-15.

But now that natural gas fueling stations are conveniently located throughout the state, the vehicle market is trying to catch up, Allred said.

"We've never seen such a demand for natural gas vehicles, and the (gasoline) prices have a lot to do with that," he said.

Normally, Questar's fleet of vehicles runs entirely on natural gas, Allred said. But because such manufacturers as Ford and GM have stopped making dedicated natural gas vehicles, he has been forced to purchase some that run on gasoline.

He said used natural gas vehicles from across the country find their way to Utah because of high demand here.

Even local companies have started to build their businesses around natural gas technologies.

Onyx Technologies in Brigham City, for instance, creates the fuel tank compression systems for vehicle conversions. Twisted Diesel Creations, based in Murray, has started doing custom conversions for both natural gas and biodiesel. For more information, go to www.twisteddieselcreations.com.

James Patterson, of HyPerComp Engineering, a sister company to Onyx, said he is excited to be part a market that is bringing an alternative, domestic fuel to Utah.

"Doesn't it feel good to do something right that makes sense economically?" he said.

"And it's right for the consumer and the country."

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