TruStar Energy and D.L. Withers Team Up to Build New CNG Fueling Station for Tucson

(TUCSON, AZ) MAY 18, 2015 – TruStar Energy, a national leader in design and construction of turnkey Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) fueling infrastructure, in conjunction with Arizona-based D.L. Withers Construction, is excited to announce the award to refurbish the City of Tucson’s existing CNG fueling station.

TruStar Energy, under contract from D.L. Withers, will handle the construction of the station refurbishment, intended to give the existing 20-year-old station a complete facelift. This will modernize the current station’s 3,000 psi fueling system to the newer industry standard of 3,600 psi as well as develop a 90-truck time-fill fueling area, allowing for more capacity and faster fueling.

“The existing plant is at the end of its useful life and city administrators felt it was time to upgrade, given our intention to continue our fleet migration to CNG,” said City of Tucson Senior Engineering Associate, Brian Conte. “We currently have 45 CNG transit buses fueling and have plans to expand our Refuse Collection fleet to 90 trucks – so the station upgrade is essential.”

The City of Tucson was an early adopter of CNG as a replacement fuel for diesel and the 20-year-old station has witnessed many growing pains relating to earlier engine designs and fueling system components.

“The station originally was designed around the transit fleet,” said Conte, adding that other lighter-duty vehicles were brought into the mix. “Early on, we had third-party engine retrofits which provided us with ‘dual fuel’ vehicles, but they weren’t really reliable and we eventually moved away from those. The payback was seen with the heavier vehicles that used a lot more fuel.”

“Tucson represents a perfect case in the long-term viability of CNG as a sustainable replacement fuel for diesel,” said TruStar Energy President and CEO, Adam Comora. “Tucson took a chance on CNG 20-years ago and it was the right decision, as they are back to upgrade and expand their original vision.”

The station’s existing fast-fueling dispensers, compressors and dryers will be replaced with new state-of-the art systems including Ariel compressors, ANGI-Gilbarco fast-fill dispensers and a PSB gas dryer. In addition, a time-fill parking area will be installed to allow for the fueling of the City’s expanding CNG-powered garbage trucks, responsible for providing trash collection for both residential and commercial customers.

“We currently have automated side loaders that handle the residential routes, front loaders that cater to commercial customers, and rear loaders designed to pick up both commercial and residential trash,” said Conte, who added that CNG-powered trash trucks would replace older units when they retire from service.

The contract to refurbish Tucson’s station was awarded to D.L. Withers Construction, an Arizona-based General Contractor that builds commercial projects throughout Arizona. TruStar Energy was contracted through D.L. Withers to handle the CNG construction phase of the project.

“At the end of the day, it comes down to developing fleet fueling strategies that make fiscal sense – and Tucson’s long history with natural gas is a testament to the validity of CNG,” said Comora. “We’re excited to partner with D.L. Withers Construction and look forward to the completion of this project, scheduled for Q1 2016.”

TruStar Energy LLC is the preferred partner for commercial fleets looking to transition their fuel supply from oil to natural gas. TruStar Energy provides a suite of solutions making the transition as simple and easy as possible for the customer. With station builds throughout the US and Canada, TruStar Energy is a recognized leader in providing CNG infrastructure and CNG fueling solutions.

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For more information, contact Jeffry Swertfeger at 813-957-1846