The Quest for Natural Gas

Three years ago we were in need of getting another car. The one that we had would over heat if driven very hard, and the A/C was complete dead and my commute then was from Eagle Mountain to Midway, about 55 miles each way. So we began our search. We found a car online that was at a dealer in Clearfield, so we drove up. Upon seeing it we weren't impressed, but decided to look around. He had several cars that he had just bought from the military that had very low miles and were dual fuel vehicles. They ran on gasoline and also CNG (compressed natural gas). We test drove it and were pleased with the mileage and price, so we bought it. We thought if we had local CNG great, if not no biggie. Well, gas prices then were around $1.80 and CNG was $0.93, so a pretty good savings. A couple months later we saw gas prices soar over $2/gallon. Yikes, we're glad we have the cheaper option. Later that year, CNG went down to $0.73 (in Utah it's regulated, so all the stations have the same price). In time, we see gas approaching $3.70 and CNG is now down to $0.63. I'm tempted to pay the $4000 and have our van converted to CNG. The other cool thing, like other alternative fuel cars, we get the Clean Fuel license plate, so you can drive solo in the carpool lane.

The trick to CNG is finding stations that have it. Fortunately, Utah has the 2nd most of any state (California is #1). I've been blessed with having a CNG station directly across from my office. About a month ago, there was an explosion and the thing blew up. It was kind of exciting, fortunately no one was there when it happened. Well, it's still under repair, so I can't fill up there. The next closest one happens to be at 45th South, so it's pretty convenient since I drop Aaron and James off there. The pressure is kind of lousy there, and for the last 2 days has been nonexistent, so I can't get it there. When this happens, I drive up to 2nd South to Questar's main office. This has awesome pressure, and it always fills my tank up really well. Surprise, I got there today and it was down. Yikes, I really don't want to have to pay for gasoline. I then drove farther north to North Temple and finally found a good fueling station (30 minutes late to work). So, although it's nice and cheap, CNG can be a pain to get in your vehicle since there is limited fueling locations. Fortunately my car can run on gasoline too, I don't how those that are exclusively CNG manage when everything seems to not be working. Thanks Questar for the facilities that are working well!