Glynn County studying move to propane fueled vehicles
The change could save the county more than $500,000 a year.

BRUNSWICK - Glynn County potentially can knock 40 percent off its fuel bill by converting to propane.

With a 32-vehicle fleet, that's not pocket change.

County Administrator Alan Ours said during a Tuesday work session that included presentations by several propane vendors that the county spent $1.4 million on fuel last year. A 40 percent reduction would amount to a $560,000 savings, he said.

Propane is a by-product mostly of the natural gas production process but also of crude oil refinement. It is abundant, comparatively inexpensive and, best of all, domestically produced, industry representatives told the commission.

"There are more natural gas finds in the United States than in all of the Middle Eastern countries combined," said Clint Land of Cash Gas and Coastal Energy, arguably the southeast's largest independent wholesaler of propane.

Commission Chairman Richard Strickland said the lone drawback that he sees to making the conversion is the price per vehicle. It costs $5,800 to convert a gas engine to dual-use, which would burn either fuel. That adds up to $1.6 million for the fleet.

But Land said the break-even point comes no later than two years into the conversion.

The industry also offers financing, Land said, allowing municipalities and other entities to make the conversion with no initial cash outlay, and pay for it out of their savings on fuel costs.

Also, there's a $2,500 per vehicle tax credit available in Georgia, Chelsea Jenkins of Roush CleanTech said.

Clint Land spoke who spoke at the meeting said that the propane industry will typically setup fueling stations at no cost to their clients.

Propane is gaining in popularity as auto fuel, and those who try it generally are well-satisfied, said Charles Gregory of Force 911, a Norcross-based company that specializes in converting gas cars to propane.

"We haven't had any customers who tried it and didn't like it," he said.

The county likely wouldn't be able to convert all of its fleet. Propane might not be suitable for some heavy equipment such as fire trucks, and conversion kits aren't yet available for some new models of police cruisers.

But the commission was intrigued enough with the presentation to instruct Ours to take a hard look at converting to propane and reporting his findings.

Mike Morrison for the Times-Union

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