Aqua Pennsylvania, Inc. (Aqua) today announced that it received a grant
of $86,812 from the Pennsylvania Department of Environmental Protection
(DEP). The Alternative Fuels Incentive Grant (AFIG) will be applied to
the purchase of 14 new vans, which will run on clean-burning compressed
natural gas (CNG). The vans will be added to Aqua’s growing fleet of CNG
vehicles, including two bi-fuel pickup trucks, two dump trucks and five
additional vans. Aqua will use the new vans to serve water customers in
the inspection of pipeline restoration work.
The grant was awarded to Aqua at an event today at Johnson College in
Scranton, Pa., where Christopher Abruzzo, Secretary of the state
Department of Environmental Protection, and state Senator John Blake
were featured speakers.
“This grant reinforces Aqua’s commitment to reduce our use of
conventional fuels and help diminish the air pollution contributed by
our service vehicles in everyday business practices,” said Charles
Stevenson, fleet manager for Aqua America. “The grant will help to
sustain our venture into using compressed natural gas as an alternative
fuel and will help determine the future of using CNG in our Pennsylvania
fleet of vehicles.”
Aqua has been a longtime supporter of CNG vehicles. The company
purchased its first bi-fuel pickup in 1997 and expects to have 90 CNG
vehicles in operation within the next five years. In 2012, an initial
investment of $130,000 was made in a time-fill station at Aqua’s
Springfield, Delaware County, operations center. Plans are also in the
works to install time-fill stations at the company’s Willow Grove,
Montgomery County, and West Chester, Chester County, operations centers.
To date, the company has invested $675,000 in CNG through vehicle
purchases and infrastructure upgrades.
“As a former DEP secretary and economic development director for the
Commonwealth, I strongly believe that Pennsylvania’s home-gown
compressed natural gas is the fuel of the future for transportation,”
said Nicholas DeBenedictis, chairman and CEO of Aqua America. “I applaud
the ongoing efforts of the DEP for making drilling for natural gas a
safe and environmentally-sound alternative to petroleum-based fuels.
Besides creating jobs, stimulating our economy and saving money on fuel
costs, it is just the right thing to do environmentally because the
payoff is less pollution when more CNG vehicles are on the road.”
In 2011, Aqua America announced a joint venture to construct a private
pipeline supplying fresh water to natural gas producers drilling in the
Marcellus Shale in north-central Pennsylvania. The company has been
vocal about its commitment to ensuring the proper management of this
important resource.
Aqua Pennsylvania serves approximately 1.4 million people in 31 counties
throughout the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
Aqua America is one of the largest U.S.-based, publicly-traded water
utilities and serves almost three million people in Pennsylvania, Ohio,
North Carolina, Illinois, Texas, New Jersey, Indiana, Virginia, Florida
and Georgia. Aqua America is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under
the ticker symbol WTR. Visit aquaamerica.com for more information.
WTRG
Copyright Business Wire 2013