NG Advantage signs deal to expand into New Hampshire

by Tim McQuiston, Vermont Business Magazine Clean Energy Fuels Corp of California (Nasdaq: CLNE) and NG Advantage LLC of Milton, Vermont, today announced an agreement to construct a new compressed natural gas (CNG) compression facility in Pembroke, NH, just outside Concord. The facility will allow NG Advantage to expand its reach in providing CNG to manufacturing and other energy-intensive customers located away from the nation’s natural gas pipeline throughout New England and Eastern New York. Once operational, the facility will more than double the capacity of NG Advantage.
Tom Evslin, co-founder of NG Advantage with his wife Mary, said that the Milton facility that opened only in March was already near capacity. He said the agreement with Clean Energy allows them to expand capacity in northern Vermont, New Hampshire and Upstate New York, but that it also provides redundancy in the system.
Clean Energy is essentially a natural gas filling station, mostly for fleets. Evslin said that there is not a market for that service yet in the Concord area, so while it develops, NG will be its principal customer.
"It's a very nice synergy," Evslin said.
The capacity at the New Hampshire facility is enough to run six or seven factories, Evslin said. Instead of spending the equivalent of $30-35 million in fuel oil, those customers will not only save about 30 percent on their energy costs, but they will reduce their carbon emissions by using natural gas instead of oil.
Designed, constructed and operated by Clean Energy, the facility is intended to provide a minimum of 10 million gasoline-gallons-equivalent of CNG per year. NG Advantage has committed to purchase that volume of fuel for the duration of the 10-year agreement. This potentially represents more than double the CNG fuel volume supplied by Clean Energy’s highest-volume CNG station.
‘America’s transportation sector has realized tremendous economic and environmental rewards by switching to CNG,’said Mark Riley, Clean Energy regional vice president. ‘Our partnership with NG Advantage is expected to allow our two companies to bring these same advantages to America’s manufacturers who are located beyond the reach of our nation’s natural gas network."
The new facility will enable NG Advantage’s expanded customer base to use natural gas, which reduces carbon-dioxide emissions in manufacturing applications by up to 26 percent and is currently over 30 percent cheaper than propane or oil alternatives.
‘Reducing energy costs and improving environmental impact is critical for American manufacturers to remain competitive in the global marketplace,’said Neale Lunderville, CEO of NG Advantage. ‘Clean Energy is the perfect partner for us to serve our customers beyond the pipeline with cleaner, cheaper and abundant American natural gas.’
Evslin said NG will continue took look for expansion opportunities, either in building its own facilities or working in partnership with companies like Clean Energy. He said they are looking at the Albany, NY, area. What NG seeks are regions with an unmet need for natural gas. For instance, the natural gas line that runs north from Massachusetts terminates in Concord, NH, making it ideal for a CNG facility.
"This is a great time to go very quickly and meet unfilled demand," he said.
As new sites are developed, customers will save even more money because NG's trucking costs will be reduced. One of NG's first customers was Putney Paper, more than two hours from Milton. The Pembroke facility is not substantially closer, but it does allow NG to use different facilities as customer demand requires, while it allows flexibility in service to avoid problems like highway construction.
"Our focus is always on expanding the service and enhancing our customer service," Evslin said.
The groundbreaking for the New Hampshire site is expected in September, pending permit approvals, Evslin said.
It will be larger than the Vermont plant -- 2.5 billion cubic feet versus 1.5 billion cubic feet. The limitation is how much Vermont Gas Systems can supply to Milton. Evslin said if VGS is able to expand its pipeline to Addison County and as far as Ticonderoga, NY, the capacity of the line coming down from Canada could be increased, which would benefit NG.
About Clean Energy Fuels Corp
Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) is the largest provider of natural gas fuel for transportation in North America. We build and operate compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fueling stations; manufacture CNG and LNG equipment and technologies for ourselves and other companies and develop renewable natural gas (RNG) production facilities. For more information, visit www.cleanenergyfuels.com.
About NG Advantage LLC
NG Advantage LLC is the leading provider of compressed natural gas (CNG) fuel to enterprise customers located beyond the nation’s natural gas pipeline through New England and Eastern New York. NG Advantage delivers CNG via tanker truck in real time to its growing base of large industrial, commercial, and institutional customers.
Source: NEWPORT BEACH, Calif. (Aug. 6, 2013) ‘Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE) and NG Advantage LLC www.ngadvantage.com.