MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- IGS Energy unveiled a plan to build a compressed natural gas (CNG) corridor along Interstate 79 from Charleston, W.Va., north to Mount Morris, Pa., with future expansion anticipated.
The plan by IGS Energy calls for stations in Charleston, Bridgeport and Jane Lew, W.Va., along with the Mount Morris site, according to numerous reports. President Scott White said the stations will serve the growing number of businesses and residents using natural gas vehicles.
IGS Energy said the so-called CNG Fueling Corridor the first of its kind since drilling in the Marcellus shale field began to take off.
IGS’ CNG Services division plans to begin construction in the next few months, and West Virginia business manager T.J. Meadows said the Charleston and Bridgeport stations should be online by the end of the third quarter. Jane Lew and Mount Morris, he said, should be operational by the end of the year.
However, “this is by no means a ‘one and done,’ ” he said. “We very much anticipate putting stations across the state.”
IGS is also looking at a similar network in Ohio, and possibly eventually in Pennsylvania.
“We see it not only as the fuel of tomorrow,” he said, according to an Associated Press report, “but we see it, quite candidly, as the fuel of today.”
Surging production has the gas industry seeking out new markets for its products, and companies are starting to focus more on the transportation sector. They tout natural gas as a cheaper, cleaner alternative to gasoline and diesel.
Last fall, the West Virginia Governor’s Natural Gas Vehicle Task Force said that low prices support a shift toward CNG vehicles, and that it would look at ways to expand the network of fueling stations. West Virginia had compressed natural gas filling centers in the 1990s, but they failed to catch on with consumers, according to the report.
Meadows said he believes the economics and consumer benefits are now different enough to support widespread conversion. In the 1990s, he said, gas companies and consumers were unaware of the vast reserves of the Marcellus, Utica and Eagle Ford shale reserves. Those offer a long-term supply stream.
In West Virginia, consumers can also take advantage of the Alternative Fuel Vehicle Tax Credit, which offers credits of up to $7,500 for converting passenger vehicles and up to $25,000 for industrial vehicles over 26,000 pounds.
Dublin, Ohio-based IGS chose to concentrate in West Virginia because the governor and the Legislature have embraced policies to encourage gas development, White said.
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