Clean Energy Fuels Corp. (Nasdaq: CLNE), of Seal Beach, has secured a new 10-year contract from the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transit Authority (METRO) to upgrade, operate and maintain CNG bus fueling facilities supporting two METRO operating divisions.

Although Clean Energy will not be providing the fuel, a company spokesperson told www.OC180NEWS.com the significance of the contract is in the size of the “operations and maintenance” (O&M) contract and furthering the company’s relationship with a major transportation agency.

Over the next 12 months, Clean Energy will reconfigure and upgrade CNG station compressor equipment at METRO stations that supply CNG bus fleets deployed in the agency’s Los Angeles Central and South Bay divisions. Between the two divisions, the CNG fuel requirement is expected to exceed nine million gallons per year.

The company spokesperson told us Clean Energy receives a fee per gallon for the O&M contract, but said the company does not disclose the amount or the margin on such contracts. Clean energy will also receive revenue for upgrading the stations.

According to a company statement, “METRO currently operates North America’s largest CNG-powered transit bus fleet. The agency’s more than 2,500 clean-burning CNG buses comprise 95% of its overall fleet. METRO secured grant funding for this CNG station upgrade project from the federal program created by the 2009 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act.”

James Harger, Clean Energy’s Chief Marketing Officer, said, “We are pleased to be selected by METRO and expand our working relationship with them to support their operation of the nation’s largest clean-air bus fleet. They are the clear leader today among U.S. transit operators that are taking accelerated action to operate their bus fleets on clean-burning CNG. Across America, Clean Energy is partnering with many major public transit agencies and their service providers to fuel over 5,000 buses, and to help them implement and expand their clean-fuel programs.”

Clean Energy also operates fueling stations in Anaheim and at the ports of Long Beach and Los Angeles. While these stations provide both liquefied natural gas (lng) and compressed natural gas (cng), the LA Metro stations will provide CNG only.

The company said in a statement “Compared to conventional diesel buses, natural gas-powered transit buses help maintain environmental quality by producing significantly less harmful air pollutants and greenhouse gas emissions.”

LA METRO deploys buses on 191 fixed routes in a 1,433-square-mile service area in Los Angeles County. More than 9.6 million persons — nearly one-third of California's residents — live and work in L.A. County. In fiscal year 2009, passenger boardings of METRO buses totaled more than 365 million.

According to the company statement, “Clean Energy is the leading provider of natural gas (CNG and LNG) for transportation in North America. It has a broad customer base in the refuse, transit, ports, shuttle, taxi, trucking, airport and municipal fleet markets, fueling more than 18,300 vehicles at 200 strategic locations across the United States and Canada. Clean Energy owns and operates two LNG production plants, one in Willis, Texas and one in Boron, Calif., with combined capacity of 260,000 LNG gallons per day and designed to expand to 340,000 LNG gallons per day as demand increases. It owns and operates a landfill gas facility in Dallas, Texas, that produces renewable methane gas, or biomethane, for delivery in the nation’s gas pipeline network. Clean Energy also owns BAF Technologies, Inc. of Dallas, a leading provider of natural gas vehicle systems and conversions for taxis, limousines, vans, pick-up trucks and shuttle buses.”

Clean Energy Fuels headquarters are located at 3020 Old Ranch Parkway, Seal Beach. The company main phone number is 562 493 2804. Click here to go to their web site.