New Public/Private Partnership CNG Fueling Station Opens In Donora, Washington County

Gov. Tom Wolf Tuesday announced the opening of the third of 29 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling stations planned as part of a Public Private Partnership, this one in Donora, Washington County.

Department of Transportation representatives joined officials from Trillium CNG, the Mid-Mon Valley Transportation Authority, and state and local officials in Donora to mark opening of the facility.

The event also celebrated the opening of the authority’s new operational facility made possible by federal, state and local investments.

“This P3 is helping transit agencies reduce costs and use resources available in our own backyard,” Gov. Wolf said of the opening. “I’m pleased to see the great progress we’re making in bringing these benefits to every corner of the state.”

Through the $84.5 million statewide P3 project, Trillium will design, build, finance, operate and maintain CNG fueling stations at 29 public transit agency sites through a 20-year P3 agreement.

Following other stations will be constructed over the next five years and Trillium is also making CNG-related upgrades to existing transit maintenance facilities.

As part of the conversion in Donora, the MMVTA will convert 24 buses and five paratransit buses to CNG, adding to their existing eight CNG buses.

The authority estimates saving more than $150,000 annually based on current diesel costs and their diesel usage of roughly 185,000 gallons per year.

The CNG improvements will boost MMVTA’s efficiency and improved operations brought by the new, energy efficient facility that renovated a former steel-mill building into a facility for bus storage, light bus maintenance, administrative activities and vehicle dispatching, as well as a passenger waiting area and a park and ride lot.

The facility was made possible with nearly $4.3 million in federal funds, more than $525,000 in state investments and $150,000 in local funds.

The CNG component will help the goal of gaining LEED Silver certification, as will upgrades such as geothermal heating and cooling and electrical improvements.

PennDOT’s overall P3 project includes CNG fueling accessible to the public at six transit agency sites, with the option to add to additional sites in the future.

PennDOT will receive a 15 percent royalty, excluding taxes, for each gallon of fuel sold to the public at public sites, which will be used to support the cost of the project.

Using the P3 procurement mechanism allows PennDOT to install the fueling stations faster than if a traditional procurement mechanism was used for each site, resulting in significant estimated capital cost savings of more than $46 million.

When the project is completed, the fueling stations will supply gas to more than 1,600 CNG buses at transit agencies across the state.

A list of agencies participating in the P3 project, in order of construction-start timeline, follows:

-- Cambria County Transportation Authority, Johnstown Facility (2017), includes public fueling.

-- Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, York Facility (2017), includes public fueling.

-- Mid Mon Valley Transportation Authority (2017)

-- Cambria County Transportation Authority, Ebensburg Facility (2017)

-- Westmoreland County Transportation Authority (2017)

-- Centre Area Transportation Authority (2017)

-- Beaver County Transportation Authority (2017)

-- Crawford Area Transportation Authority (2017)

-- New Castle Area Transportation Authority (2017), includes public fueling.

-- Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Allentown Facility (2017)

-- County of Lebanon Transportation Authority (2017)

-- Altoona Metro Transit (2017)

-- Central Pennsylvania Transportation Authority, Gettysburg Facility (2017)

-- Butler Transportation Authority (2018)

-- Indiana County Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling.

-- County of Lackawanna Transportation System (2018), includes public fueling.

-- Erie Metropolitan Transportation Authority (2018), includes public fueling.

-- Mercer County Regional Council of Governments (2019)

-- Fayette Area Coordinated Transportation System (2019)

-- Monroe County Transportation Authority (2019)

-- Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Bradford Facility (2019)

-- Area Transportation Authority of North Central PA, Johnsonburg Facility (2019)

-- DuBois, Falls Creek, Sandy Township Joint Transportation Authority (2020)

-- Lehigh and Northampton Transportation Authority, Easton Facility (2021)

-- Luzerne County Transportation Authority (2021)

-- Schuylkill Transportation System (2021)

-- Transit Authority of Warren County (2021)

-- Capital Area Transit (2021)

-- Port Authority of Allegheny County (2021)

To learn more about this and other P3 projects visit the CNG Fueling Stations Project webpage.
[Note: Interestingly, Donora, Pennsylvania was the scene of an severe air pollution inversion in 1948 that killed 20 people ultimately resulting in the passage of the state’s first comprehensive Air Pollution Control Act in 1960 that we still have today.]