Hempfield natural gas filling station touts 'green'

Export Fuel Co. has taken a million-dollar gamble that firms with trucking fleets will invest in vehicles that run on compressed natural gas, a fuel touted as more environmentally friendly and often cheaper than gasoline or diesel.

The Export-based company and Wisconsin-based U.S. Gain, which develops CNG fueling stations, joined forces to open a station on Roseytown Road in Hempfield, only the second such site in Westmoreland County.

On Tuesday, officials of both companies touted the advantages of CNG — better for the environment than diesel and produced in America — during an event staged at the new fuel pumps, next to the traditional fueling station Export Fuel operates under the Pacific Pride banner.

Richard Morchesky, president of Export Fuel, said he anticipates CNG growth in the region and is looking at other sites for filling stations, including along Route 66 in Salem.

“I see it expanding in five years in Pennsylvania,” Morchesky said.

Among the many challenges of building a CNG station is the slow return on the investment. It likely will be several years before the company covers the cost of the project, which topped $1 million, Morchesky said. A state grant from the Department of Community and Economic Development for startup alternative and clean energy fuel stations provided $567,000 for the project.

Export Fuel officials weighed opening a CNG station for about five years, according to Kristen Zawoyski, the company's operations manager. The quandary was that area companies were not ready to invest in purchasing CNG vehicles, and fueling stations are few and far between.

“There's nobody in the area that has natural gas-powered vehicles,” Zawoyski said. “About a year ago, we decided to sign on the line and go for it.”

As interest grows in “greener” modes of transportation, CNG is just a natural progression, she said.

The firm opened the Roseytown fueling station in 2004 because the site is close to businesses with sizable fleets, such as a Coca-Cola bottling plant, PennDOT's county maintenance headquarters, Greensburg Beverage Co. and Stone and Co., Zawoyski said.

A “clean energy” open house Export Fuel held for companies “more or less confirmed there was an interest in CNG,” said Carrie Morchesky, secretary-treasurer. But there had to be a place for them to fuel, she said.

One deterrent to truck fleet owners converting to CNG is the cost, which ranges from $32,000 and $35,000 per vehicle, said Daniel Smith, fleet sales manager for Penn Commercial Vehicle Solutions of Cranberry, which installs diesel and CNG engines.

The return on investment is tough, Smith said.

The relatively low price of diesel fuel, which the U.S. Energy Information Administration says averages $2.32 a gallon nationwide, is another factor in delaying conversion to CNG, said Robert H. Beatty Jr., chief executive of O-Ring CNG Fuel Systems LP of Punxsutawney.

Beatty's company, which has partnered with U.S. Gain, operates CNG fueling stations in Punxsutawney, Brookville and DuBois, and near the Pennsylvania Turnpike in Somerset. More stations are planned for Jefferson County, Cranberry and Indiana.

“There will be numerous CNG fueling stations across the state” in the next several years, Beatty said.

Export linked with U.S. Gain through Beatty, and his company provided much of the equipment for the Hempfield station, Morchesky said.

Other factors fell into place for the venture, including the location near a Peoples Gas pipeline of sufficient pressure and size that runs along Roseytown Road. A giant compressor adjacent to the station takes natural gas from the line and compresses it to 5,000 pounds per square inch, significantly greater than the 1 pound per square inch of gas delivered to homes, said Ronald Bondo, sales specialist for Peoples Gas.

Construction began in September.

Zawoyski will team up with counterparts at U.S. Gain to market the new station. The partner company has experience in providing CNG fuel for such large trucking companies as Penske and Ryder, she said.

With a CNG station in Hempfield, Supervisor Doug Weimer said the township will consider converting its fleet of public works vehicles and fire trucks. The township would explore the possibility of obtaining grants to cover the cost, he said.

Jeff Himler is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach him at 724-836-6622 or jhimler@tribweb.com. Joe Napsha contributed to this story.