TULSA, OK – The City of Tulsa, Okla. now has a high-speed compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling station operating at the City’s west maintenance yard. The City’s Mayor Dewey Bartlett said the City also plans to purchase CNG-powered vehicles to reduce fuel costs and reduce emissions.

The City stated that its $875,000 CNG program is funded with $477,000 from federal energy program grants and with funds from the Tulsa Authority for the Recovery of Energy (TARE). TARE operates a growing fleet of CNG-fueled refuse collection trucks. Other costs for the program are funded out of the City Equipment Management Department’s operating budget.

"We are pleased to see our CNG fleet growing and we are looking forward to long-term cost savings, and to the environmental benefits of using CNG-powered vehicles," said Mayor Dewey Bartlett.

The City also plans to construct six dedicated CNG fueling points for refuse collection trucks in Phase II of its program, and in Phase III build an open-to-the-public retail CNG fueling station, all of which the City expects to complete before the end of the year.

"I'm also pleased that local companies did most of the work and supplied most of the components to expand the City's CNG program," the mayor said.  Tulsa Gas Technologies provided the equipment for the new CNG station and used a large compressor built by another Tulsa firm, Arrow Engine Co.

Bartlett said that converting vehicles to run on CNG will help the local and State economy because Oklahoma is a leader in natural gas production and transportation. According to the Tulsa World, the City has a fleet of 2,600 vehicles.