AT&T deploying vans running on CNG

In March of this year, AT&T announced it was replacing 8,000 of its U.S. fleet with vehicles running on natural gas over the next few years. This week AT&T have announced that they are going to deploy 30 vans running on compressed natural gas for its Oklahoma fleet (this represents 10 percent of AT&T’s fleet in Oklahoma). AT&T expects it to be a five-year $350 million project. This comes as part of AT&T’s larger plan to spend $565 million deploying more than 15,000 alt-fuel vehicles, and retire an estimated 7,100 gasoline-powered vehicles from its fleet over the next decade. AT&T plans to add 40 more stations to support its new vehicles, working with natural gas service providers (still unnamed).

The State Legislature of Oklahoma is providing incentives for companies and individuals to make better use of domestic fuels rather than using imported oil. The state is confident that jobs will be created with the need to up-fitting vehicles to run on domestic resources, plus the jobs in the production, distribution and fueling facilities for natural gas.

It’s important to note that deployments of CNG vehicles is a further sign that America’s political and business leaders recognize that we have an abundance of natural gas, and this secure and cleaner-burning domestic resource can be used to displace foreign diesel, foreign gasoline and foreign oil and offset that threat to American national security and economy.
AT&T recognizes that natural gas is an excellent replacement for imported gasoline and diesel. Recent studies have shown we have natural gas reserves in the United States which will last for 118 years.

In fact, as Boone has said, “On an equivalency basis, the study shows we have more natural gas than Saudi Arabia has oil. In fact, if the study is right, and you have to assume it is, we have more natural gas reserves than any other country. It’s time to put it to work as a critical bridge fuel in transportation.”

Posted by: C.Keddy