The Virginia Department of Mines, Minerals and Energy in collaboration with the Virginia Department of Transportation is offering an Alternative Fuels Program Government Fleet Vehicle Incentive to allow state agencies and local governments in specific air quality non-attainment, ozone attainment and/or maintenance areas to be reimbursed for incremental costs to transition to alternative fuels such as propane. Spotsylvania County is considered to be part of the ozone attainment/maintenance area. Allowable vehicles for this program must be “Buy America” compliant and garaged in program areas of air quality as recognized by the federal CMAQ program. As part of the partnership agreement, Blossman Services, Inc. is the propane vendor for Spotsylvania County for the alternative fuel used by the Sheriff’s Office. The program is intended to reduce air pollution and greenhouse gases associated with government fleet vehicles.
A review of previous County vehicles that have been converted to propane fuel shows that:
- propane fueled vehicles provide a 10% increase in the life of the motor;
- decrease the level of emissions compared to gas fueled vehicles;
- have increased horsepower over gasoline fueled vehicles;
- have 10% better fuel economy;
- have reduced costs for fuel as propane is approximately 10% less than gasoline, and
- currently, propane fuel costs for on-road vehicle usage are eligible for Federal fuel tax credits of $0.3695 per gallon.
To date the County has received $56,001 from the IRS for alternative fuel tax credits associated with the converted vehicles utilized by the Sheriff’s Office. This amount covers FY 2013 to FY 2016.
Under the Alternative Fuels Program Government Fleet Vehicle Incentive, reimbursements are up to an average of $10,000 per vehicle for the incremental cost of new vehicles or reasonable aftermarket conversions. There is no local cash match requirement for the award and no on-going requirement to fund this project after the award expires. The Sheriff’s Office would like to convert five Ford Explorers PPV-SUVs to propane. The estimated cost for the conversion kit is $5,000 plus an estimated $1,340 for the installation per vehicle for a total project cost of $31,700.