PLANO, Texas -- Senior leadership from PepsiCo's Frito-Lay North America division, representatives from the Department of Energy and the State of Wisconsin unveiled in late June Frito-Lay's inaugural compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station in Beloit, Wis. The station opening is part of Frito-Lay's large-scale commitment to alternative fuel. In 2013, the company will break ground on seven public CNG fueling stations across the United States and continue to grow its CNG fleet.
The new CNG fueling stations will not only provide fuel for these company's fleet and help pave the way for more CNG vehicles to be introduced into the Frito-Lay fleet, but will also make available fuel for other companies currently using or considering alternative fuel vehicles. The seven new fueling stations, along with three other stations that will be in operation this year, will begin at a total expected annual volume of two million gallons and grow to a little more than eight million gallons in five years.
"This initiative to build much-needed natural gas infrastructure for large commercial vehicles is part of Frito-Lay's deep commitment to the environment," said Mike O'Connell, senior director for fleet operations for Frito-Lay North America. "When all 208 CNG tractors are in service, Frito-Lay will eliminate 7,863 metric tons of carbon emissions, the equivalent of over 1,125 cars annually."
The company selected Questar Fueling and Trillium CNG as the two vendors that will build the seven new CNG fueling stations. Frito-Lay's investment in Beloit was also supported by the State of Wisconsin and the Department of Energy.
Trillium CNG--a business unit of Integrys Transportation Fuels LLC, which holds the CNG business activities of Integrys Energy Group--has more than 20 years of expertise in designing, installing and operating heavy-duty high-performance CNG stations with the lowest lifecycle cost and an ultra-fast refueling experience. In addition to building the station in Beloit, Wis., Trillium will be responsible for building the Frito-Lay stations in Jonesboro, Ark.; Orlando, Fla.; Charlotte, N.C.; Rosenberg, Texas; and Perry, Ga.
Separately, Chicago-based Trillium CNG announced in late June that it is expanding its compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling network with plans to build 101 public-access Class 8 accessible CNG stations in 29 states by 2016. The site locations are based on customers' demands that CNG stations be built near their key shipping lanes off of major interstate highways.
"Natural gas is abundant, U.S. produced, burns cleaner and significantly less costly than diesel," said Mary Boettcher, president of Trillium CNG. "The expansion of our CNG fueling infrastructure will make compressed natural gas available to a greater number of fleets traveling busy commercial trucking routes. New stations will contribute to making natural gas the preferred fuel of choice in the U.S."
Trillium CNG's core business is providing ultra-fast CNG fueling solutions for heavy-duty fleets requiring high performance solutions. Its business model for public access stations consists of securing a fuel purchase agreement with an anchor customer for each station location. Trillium offers a flexible business model to meet a wide range of customer needs for both public access and private CNG fueling locations.
There are about 120,000 natural gas vehicles on U.S. roads today and interest in CNG fueling is growing. "Traditional service stations and convenience stores view compressed natural gas as a welcome addition to their portfolio of fuels," Boettcher said.
Trillium's CNG station expansion plans include these states:
Alabama (2), Arizona (2), Arkansas (2), California (3), Colorado (1), Florida (7), Georgia (4), Illinois (6), Indiana (5), Iowa (2), Kansas (1), Kentucky (4), Louisiana (3), Maryland (1), Michigan (2), Minnesota (5), Mississippi (1), Missouri (2), Nebraska (1), Nevada (1), New York (4), North Carolina (2), North Dakota (1), Ohio (8), Pennsylvania (6), South Carolina (2), Tennessee (4), Texas (14), Wisconsin ( 5).
Questar has more than 25 years of CNG experience and will be responsible for building Frito-Lay stations in Killingly, Conn., and Topeka, Kan.
Purchase, N.Y.-based PepsiCo is a global food and beverage leader with net revenues of more than $65 billion and a product portfolio that includes 22 brands that generate more than $1 billion each in annual retail sales. Its main businesses are Quaker, Tropicana, Gatorade, Frito-Lay and Pepsi-Cola.
Click here to view a slideshow on Frito-Lay's commitment to CNG.
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