Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), local officials, and business representatives celebrated the opening of a new fueling station located in Menifee, California, which will exclusively offer renewable natural gas. The new facility is the sixteenth public station operated by SoCalGas. As part of its efforts to reach net zero emissions by 2045 and help the state reach its climate goals, the company is focused on solutions to help reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, like heavy duty transportation.
According to a 2021 report, biomethane use as a transportation fuel in California has increased 177% over the last five years. In 2020, over 92% of natural gas trucks in California were fueled by renewable gas, some of which was facilitated through SoCalGas fueling stations and helped to displace 1.83 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
“Fueling with renewable natural gas is an affordable way to eliminate air pollution and emissions linked to climate change. It is important to us to give drivers and fleet operators more locations to fuel up,” said Don Widjaja, vice president of customer solutions at SoCalGas. “Our commitment to reducing emissions from the transportation sector continues to be a focus as we work towards our goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emission in our operations and delivery of energy by 2045.”
“With the opening of this station, SoCalGas continues to show its commitment to our city as a community partner, business leader and innovator,” said Bill Zimmerman, Mayor of the city of Menifee.
SoCalGas has worked with fleet owners to secure millions of dollars in incentive funding for the replacement of diesel trucks with cleaner, new near-zero emissions natural gas trucks. Additionally, it plans to convert 200 Ford F-250 service pick-up trucks to run on biomethane within its own fleet. With the addition of these vehicles, nearly 40% of the company’s fleet will be operating on clean fuels. Each new natural gas truck that replaces a traditional diesel truck is the equivalent of taking 57 passenger cars off the road.
Last month, SoCalGas received the 2021 NGV Achievement Award in the Utility Leadership category. The award, presented by NGVAmerica, recognizes SoCalGas’ outstanding contributions to the advancement of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
Source: SoCalGas
