November 4, 2021. Southern California Gas Co. (SoCalGas), local officials, and business representatives celebrated the opening of a new fueling station located in Menifee, California. The new fueling station will exclusively offer renewable natural gas (RNG), a clean, sustainable fuel made from methane that would otherwise be emitted from landfills, dairy farms, and other waste sources. The Menifee CNG fueling station is the sixteenth public station operated by SoCalGas. As part of its efforts to reach net zero emissions by 2045 and help the state reach its climate goals, SoCalGas is focused on solutions to help reduce emissions in hard-to-abate sectors, like heavy duty transportation.
According to a 2021 report, RNG use as a transportation fuel in California has increased 177 percent over the last five years. In 2020, over 92% of natural gas trucks in California were fueled by renewable gas, some of which was facilitated through SoCalGas fueling stations and helped to displace 1.83 million tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2e).
“Fueling with RNG is an affordable way to eliminate air pollution and emissions linked to climate change. As the use of RNG in transportation continues to increase in our state, it is important to us to give drivers and fleet operators more locations to fuel up,” said Don Widjaja, Vice President of Customer Solutions at SoCalGas. “Our commitment to reducing emissions from the transportation sector continues to be a focus as we work towards our goal to achieve net zero greenhouse gas emission in our operations and delivery of energy by 2045.”
“With the opening of this station, SoCalGas continues to show its commitment to our city as a community partner, business leader and innovator,” said Bill Zimmerman, Mayor of the city of Menifee.
“Congratulations to SoCalGas on the opening of your new CNG fueling station,” said Assemblymember Kelly Seyarto. “This infrastructure upgrade will bring the benefits of cleaner energy to all our communities in Southwest Riverside County.”
SoCalGas has worked with fleet owners to secure millions of dollars in incentive funding for the replacement of diesel trucks with cleaner, new near-zero emissions natural gas trucks. Additionally, SoCalGas plans to convert 200 Ford F-250 service pick-up trucks to run on RNG within its own fleet. With the addition of these trucks, nearly 40 percent of SoCalGas’ fleet will be operating on clean fuels. Each new natural gas truck that replaces a traditional diesel truck is the equivalent of taking 57 passenger cars off the road.