Finance Committee - 12/06/2017 Page 3
Alderman Clemons
Is the station open to the public?
Mike Manning
It is, and | should qualify that. Compressed natural gas is really a fleet fuel. So when you say, “Open to the
public,” the public, in that instance, really means other fleets. | was speaking with the Aldermen about the
public; the public, in terms of consumers, much more suited with electric vehicles, or hybrid electric vehicles.
CNG is really geared towards refuse and recycling fleets, transit fleets, and then delivery fleets like UPS,
Federal Express, etc. So while | would never turn away a consumer or a private citizen wanting to utilize this
station, we don’t market to that segment because it’s just not where the industry is. But yes, it is, in theory,
open to the public.
Mayor Donchess
If someone did have a CNG car, what | think you’re saying is that’s highly unusual: they could buy fuel from
you?
Mike Manning
They could, and it does happen. But it’s not a commonplace occurrence.
Alderman Clemons
| guess | was more interested to see if — because | was on the committee back when it was first proposed and |
was a proponent of it then and | am now — but | was curious, because | know at the time UPS had some
interest in maybe converting their fleet to CNG, and | didn’t know if any other companies around Nashua did
that or were looking into that.
Mike Manning
Correct. We had approached UPS. Unfortunately, with UPS, all local decisions are made in Atlanta, so there
was a disconnect there. |’d say right now, the fleet that a non-City of Nashua fleet that refuels is Liberty
Utilities. They're a gas utility; it’s in their best interests to use their own fuel for their vehicles. So today, | would
say that Liberty Utilities is probably the number one non-City of Nashua fleet utilizing the station on Riverside.
Mayor Donchess
How many vehicles are in their fleet?
Mike Manning
That’s a good question. | don’t think it’s a huge number, maybe 10 or 12. And they’re primarily lighter-duty
vehicles. They’re usually customer service vans, either Chevrolet or Ford vans that have been ordered through
the factory to operate on compressed natural gas.
Dan Kooken
You said 2021 and this was 2026?
Mike Manning
I’m sorry. The current contract ends in 2021; the amendment would extend that to 2026, and allow us to invest
the monies for the additional compression.
