Denton will save about $5 million over the next eight years by installing just one gas pump at the city's landfill, which will be used by Denton's 24 solid waste trucks that run on compressed natural gas, city leaders say.
The nearest CNG station is 20 miles away, so right now the compressed natural gas arrives at the landfill on a mobile fuel truck.
"The average cost of these is about $3.75 per gallon, so it is a bit more than you would pay at the pump," said Ethan Cox, director of the Solid Waste & Recycling Department.
The extra cost adds up. The city pays $40,000 to $50,000 more each month to fill the CNG trucks that way.
"That's really the pressing issue for us, is to get off the mobile fueling platform and to get onto a permanent station of our own," Cox said.
Now, after a vote by the city council, the Solid Waste & Recycling Department will spend $1.1 million to install a CNG at the landfill, right alongside the bio-diesel pumps for the rest of the fleet that runs on that fuel.
The cost savings alone will pay for the CNG pump in just two or three years, and then save an addition $5 million before the CNG fleet is phased out by 2025, the city says.
