For Lower Providence Government Vehicles, No Infrastructure Yet For Clean Fuel

The Lower Providence Board of Supervisors voted not to move forward with their potential $44,000 Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) grant that would allow them to convert three 14-ton plowing and hauling trucks to vehicles that run on Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), due to a lack of cost-effectiveness.

There was some interest in partnering with the Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Coalition to apply for the DEP grant but, according to Township Manager Richard Gestrich, they applied for the grant contingent upon the building of a Clean Energy CNG filling station at Audubon and Trooper Roads, and now it seems that the station will not be built.  

The closest CNG station to Lower Providence is in King of Prussia, and, according to Gestrich, the 17-mile voyage for their vehicles was not cost-effective.

According to Gestrich, the Greater Philadelphia Clean Cities Coalition has informed him of a new set of DEP grants that may allow them to convert smaller vehicles like police cars. 

Gestrich, while enthusiastic about the environmental potential, says at this moment they might not be ready to participate in the vehicle conversions.  “It’s in the future,” he said, but at the moment, the infrastructure is not there.