Town Looks into Propane-Powered Vehicles

Riverhead Town Board members are floating the idea of converting or purchasing a town vehicle powered by propane on a pilot basis, in an effort to determine if a higher investment in the power source would be suitable to potentially save the town fuel costs long term.

Councilwoman Jodi Giglio, the board's liaison to the Renewable Energy Committee, said she brought the idea up recently when the board purchased six new police cruisers, suggesting that the town run one on propane to see if it's worth the risk.

"I'd like to test it out and see the cost savings," Giglio said, adding that the Riverhead Central School District purchased two propane buses last year, and three more this year. Giglio said she wasn't sure what the district had seen savings-wise, and School Transportation Superintendent Amala Cain said the district will be reviewing the exact number in cost savings after a year of operation, coming up this month. But the savings were enough to warrant the purchase of three new propane buses.

According to town budget numbers, over $615,000 is budgeted for municipal fuel costs in 2012, up from $515,000 actually spent in 2010 and $382,000 spent in 2009.

In addition, it's a cleaner fuel.

"It's better for the environment. And if we can move away from foreign-based fossil fuels, I think that's a good thing too," Giglio said. 

Representatives from Bay Gas in Shirley attended Thursday morning's work session, showing representatives from the town a few propane-run vehicles and briefing the board about some of its benefits.

Propane fuel is roughly a dollar less per gallon right now, they said. In addition, since it runs cleaner, oil changes and other mechanical issues are much less frequent.

"Propane runs away with it when you're talking about a work truck," said Jack O'Loughlin, Bay Fuels' owner, referring to something larger than a typical F-150, such as a small dump truck.

Though O'Loughlin's colleague, Mark Goldsmith, pointed out that if an F-150 gets 150,000 miles on propane on 10 miles per gallon (which, according to Ford, is roughly seven miles per gallon less than a typical gas truck), "all you have to do is do the math. Add into that, service savings too."

O'Loughlin added that should the town decide to convert some of its fleet to propane, he would install a propane filling station at no cost to the town, a project Goldsmith estimated as a $5 million cost.

Converting an existing gasoline car to propane fuel would run about $5,000, O'Loughlin said. Sewer Superintendent Michael Reichel said that government contracts offer Chevy Silverados with a propane system for an additional $8,000.

Supervisor Sean Walter expressed skepticism about using a police cruiser with propane, not only for safety reasons, but also because of the high turnover of the cars. He also wasn't keen on adding an after market propane system to a new car.

"If we're only getting 10 to 12 percent less efficient, we may never see the return on investment that comes and goes in three years," he said.

Giglio pointed to an article in a Georgia newspaper about a county that converted 36 police cars to propane, reportedly resulting in over $100,000 in fuel savings. Though some officers were initially averse to the idea, the article - written roughly a year ago - states that many “feel much better than they did when the idea unfolded.”

Walter said that he'd like to get numbers from the school district to see how much savings it has realized since purchasing the buses, and directed Community Development Director Christine Kempner to see if any grant opportunities were available.

Kempner said in an interview that the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority does offer grant opportunities, likely to pay for a portion of any propane upgrades or conversions.