October 28, 2021. Three Texas organizations and individuals were honored at Natural Gas Vehicles for America’s (NGVAmerica) 2021 Industry Summit and Annual Meeting for their contributions toward the advancement of natural gas as a transportation fuel.
The Texas recipients for the 2021 NGV Achievement Award Recipients are:
- Gaye Shockley, City of Lake Jackson, TX Natural Gas Public Fleet Program: Since 2001, the City of Jackson Lake has relied on natural gas to fuel its municipal vehicles, making it the oldest public NGV fleet in the State of Texas. With just over 50 natural gas vehicles, this city of 27,000 people has embraced and grown its natural gas fleeting over the last twenty years, operating its own CNG station and purchasing its fuel through the State of Texas General Land Office Program. Currently, Lake Jackson is incorporating CNG forklifts and street sweepers into its operations.
- Eddie Murray NGV Horizon Award: He has become the public face of natural gas vehicles in the Greater Houston, Texas area. In business development with Houston-based Freedom CNG, Murray has significantly advanced the use of natural gas as a transportation fuel and serves as Secretary of the Texas Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance. His creative Freedom CNG Used Truck Program has placed dozens of pre-owned CNG trucks into the hands of independent owner-operators throughout the region and served as the basis for the Texas Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance’s recently successful legislation – HB 963 which makes pre-owned CNG truck purchases now eligible for state funding support.
- State Rep. J.M. Lozano (TX-43) NGV Public Policy Champion: He led the way for the successful passage of the Texas Natural Gas Vehicle Alliance’s HB 963: Pre-Owned Truck Grant Program. As the original sponsor, Representative Lozano introduced the bill early in the unusual but contentious 87th Session. He worked tirelessly to add critical and strategic co-sponsors including Representative Brooks Landgraf (Chair of Natural Resources), Representative Alex Dominguez (Vice Chair of Natural Resources), and Representative Ryan Guillen (Chair of Resolution Calendars). Passage out of the House was swift with some concessions. Representative Lozano and his staff were in direct communication with the Alliance offering and encouraging strategies. Though once stalled in the Senate, HB 963 eventually ended up passing and being signed into law by Governor Greg Abbott, allowing pre-owned natural gas truck purchases to be eligible for state funding support.
Susan Shifflett, Texas NGV Alliance President, concludes, “These organizations and individuals are Texas’s natural gas cheerleaders. They work tirelessly to promote and grow this critical clean transportation energy. These awards and recognition are well deserved. Congratulations to all.”