CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS – The City of Corpus Christi’s city council approved a service agreement with Natural Gas Vehicles Texas Inc. to convert a total of 16 gasoline- and diesel-fueled vehicles to run on compressed natural gas during the next 12 months.

The City currently has 33 CNG-fueled vehicles in its fleet. This group of vehicles includes eight Honda Civics, one Crown Victoria, one Chevrolet Impala, a panel van, two refuse trucks, and two messenger vans, all of which are dedicated CNG vehicles, and 18 bi-fuel Ford pickup trucks.

City documents state that the program gives priority to new vehicles scheduled for purchase during the life of the grant. Also, vehicles that travel a minimum of 12,000 miles per year, or 200,000 miles over the life of the vehicle, were scheduled for conversion.

The total cost for the conversion is $182,944.20, of which 45,736.05 will be spent in FY 2010-2011. The agreement’s term will be 12 months with the option to extend it to two additional 12-month terms, according to City documents. Funding will come from an Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant of $501,365, which will cover the cost of converting a total of 26 vehicles.

The current cost for CNG for Corpus Christi is 85 cents per gallon, which would significantly reduce fuel costs for the converted vehicles.

In addition, the City also received $400,000 in State Energy Conservation Office (SECO) funds for the construction of a new municipal natural gas fueling facility at the City’s City Vehicle Service Center.

The City’s documents explain that Corpus Christi is undergoing this effort to reduce greenhouse gas emissions, create jobs, promote local resources, and reduce dependency on foreign fuel sources.

By Greg Basich