SoCalGas Renews Program to Deliver Renewable Natural Gas to Vehicle Fueling Stations
CO2 emissions avoided over last three years are equivalent to eliminating nearly 31 million gallons of gasoline
LOS ANGELES – May 9, 2022 – Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) has renewed a program to supply renewable natural gas (RNG) to all 32 of the company’s fueling stations, along with six in the San Diego area, signing three-year contracts with suppliers U.S. Gain and Element Markets as demand continues to grow.
In April 2019, SoCalGas began replacing traditional compressed natural gas at fueling stations with RNG to help reduce greenhouse gas emissions and meet California’s climate goals. RNG is produced by capturing methane emissions from organic waste materials. Depending on the source of organic waste, RNG can be carbon negative because it captures more greenhouse gases than it emits. Since September 2020, the RNG delivered at the 38 fueling stations is considered carbon negative by the California Air Resources Board (CARB).
RNG delivered at the 38 fueling stations helped avoid approximately 275,000 metric tons of CO2 emissions over the last three years – equivalent to eliminating nearly 31 million gallons of gasoline burned, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s Greenhouse Gas Equivalencies Calculator.
“Our first three years dispensing RNG at our fueling stations have been a dramatic success, both in terms of moving forward toward our climate goals by reducing greenhouse gas emissions, but also in demonstrating the growing demand for clean RNG in our region,” said Elsa Valay-Paz, SoCalGas vice president of gas acquisition. “We dispensed 46 percent more RNG the last year than we did during the first two years, and we expect demand to continue to grow.”
The new three-year renewal continues SoCalGas’ partnership with U.S. Gain. SoCalGas signed a new contract with Element Markets to provide RNG as a second partner.
“We’re honored to continue working with SoCalGas to build on the success of the last three years, connecting their fleet with RNG in support of their decarbonization journey,” said Bryan Nudelbacher, U.S. Gain’s Director of Business Development. “Successful programs like this can help accelerate RNG adoption across industries, applications and geographies to reduce emissions and make a real impact on climate change.”
“We’re pleased to have been chosen to partner with SoCalGas as they explore and expand the use of low carbon RNG,” said Angela Schwarz, CEO of Element Markets. “As the leading independent marketer of RNG in the U.S. and, with our recent merger with Bluesource, the largest marketer and originator of carbon and environmental credits in North America, we welcome the opportunity to grow in our role a trusted provider of decarbonization solutions that progress sustainability mandates and voluntary goals.”
Last year, SoCalGas received the 2021 NGV Achievement Award in the Utility Leadership for outstanding contributions to the advancement of natural gas as a transportation fuel, in part for its RNG efforts at fueling stations.
RNG is an important tool in SoCalGas’ efforts to reach both California’s and the company’s climate goals. In 2019, the company established benchmarks including delivering 20 percent renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Last year, SoCalGas expanded its sustainability goals further, setting its aims on achieving net zero greenhouse emissions in its operations and the energy it delivers by 2045.
And in October, SoCalGas shared its Clean Fuels Study, a comprehensive technical analysis that examines how to achieve California’s carbon neutrality goals through a more integrated, reliable, and affordable energy system with a diverse array of clean fuels that includes RNG and hydrogen. For more information about renewable natural gas and how it fits into SoCalGas’ sustainability efforts, please visit https://www.socalgas.com/aspire2045.
SoCalGas Wins the “Leading Private Fleet” Award at 2022 ACT ExpoAward recognizes fleet operators who show true leadership in clean transportation
LOS ANGELES, May 12, 2022 – Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas) is honored to announce it took home the “Leading Private Fleet Award” at the 2022 Advanced Clean Transportation (ACT) Expo, North America’s largest advanced transportation and clean fleet event. This year, there were more than 250 nominees across all award categories. Finalists in the Leading Private Fleet category included Genentech, Iron Mountain, McAbee Trucking Incorporated, Sysco, and United Natural Foods Incorporated. The award recognizes leadership that goes above and beyond what is required to achieve sustainability in a company’s fleet operations.
The award specifically acknowledges SoCalGas’ critical investments towards its ASPIRE 2045 sustainability goals which includes working to replace 50% of its over-the-road fleet with clean fuel vehicles by 2025 and operate a zero-emission fleet by 2035. Currently, a third of SoCalGas’ fleet already operates on clean fuels.
“This is exciting news for SoCalGas as we continue to make strides to decarbonize one of the hardest to abate sectors of the economy,” said Jawaad Malik vice president of strategy and sustainability, and chief environmental officer. “We continue to invest in a diverse set of innovative and advanced fleet technology such as hydrogen fuel cell, electric, and renewable natural gas-powered vehicles. Adopting new, cleaner technologies and leading the fleet industry with our closed loop recycling program will help SoCalGas and California reach our shared climate and air quality goals.”
“We had a record-breaking number of submissions this year and it was difficult to choose just one winner per category given the impressive initiatives we saw from each nominee,” said Erik Neandross, CEO at Gladstein, Neandross & Associates (GNA), a clean transportation firm and energy consulting firm and the host of ACT Expo.
The company’s efforts to replace 50% of its over-the-road fleet with clean fuel vehicles by 2025, includes an announcement back in March that SoCalGas plans to install 1,500 electric vehicle chargers at 67 company facilities by the end of 2024. This year, the company plans to purchase Ford F-150 Lightning electric trucks and E-Transit electric vans to be serviced by the new chargers.
Also this year, SoCalGas purchased 50 Toyota Mirai hydrogen fuel cell vehicles (HFCEV), making SoCalGas among the first utilities in the nation to start transitioning to hydrogen-powered vehicles. And last year, SoCalGas converted 200 new Ford F-250 service pickup trucks to run on renewable natural gas (RNG). The service trucks are outfitted with the newest Landi Renzo Eco Ready™ equipment, a California Air Resource Board certified ultra-low emissions vehicles system.
The SoCalGas fleet also participates in a closed-loop automotive oil and antifreeze recycling program, which prevents the incineration of the waste and helps reduce air pollution. Last year, SoCalGas recycled more than 15,000 gallons of oil and antifreeze as a result. SoCalGas manages a fleet of more than 5,000, which includes, light, medium, and heavy-duty vehicles as well as trailers and equipment. The utility has been at the forefront of fleet sustainability with early implementation of natural gas as a vehicle fuel more than 40 years ago. And for over 30 years, SoCalGas has supported the alternative fuel transportation industry by offering public compressed natural gas refueling stations at its operating bases. Since September 2020, SoCalGas refueling stations have been supplied with carbon negative RNG.
This year SoCalGas announced its ASPIRE 2045 sustainability strategy to further integrate sustainability across our business. This strategy builds upon our aim to have net zero greenhouse gas emissions in our operations and delivery of energy by 2045. Read more at socalgas.com/aspire2045.
About SoCalGas
Headquartered in Los Angeles, SoCalGas® is the largest gas distribution utility in the United States. SoCalGas delivers affordable, reliable, and increasingly renewable gas service to 21.8 million consumers across 24,000 square miles of Central and Southern California. Gas delivered through the company’s pipelines will continue to play a key role in California’s clean energy transition—providing electric grid reliability and supporting wind and solar energy deployment.
SoCalGas’ mission is to build the cleanest, safest and most innovative energy company in America. In support of that mission, SoCalGas is committed to the goal of achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions in its operations and delivery of energy by 2045 and to replacing 20 percent of its traditional natural gas supply to core customers with renewable natural gas (RNG) by 2030. Renewable natural gas is made from waste created by dairy farms, landfills, and wastewater treatment plants. SoCalGas is also committed to investing in its gas delivery infrastructure while keeping bills affordable for customers. SoCalGas is a subsidiary of Sempra (NYSE: SRE), an energy services holding company based in San Diego. For more information visit socalgas.com/newsroom or connect with SoCalGas on Twitter (@SoCalGas), Instagram (@SoCalGas) and Facebook.
