Midwest City Receives ACOG Grant of Nearly $50,000 for New CNG Waste Collection Truck

The city of Midwest City continues to roll out its fleet of alternative fuels with the recent deployment of a new refuse truck powered by compressed natural gas (CNG).

The municipality received a grant from the Association of Central Oklahoma Governments (ACOG) to offset the expense associated with supplying the tanks and CNG system for the new vehicle. The grant funding is designed to curtail emissions that pollute the ozone.

The total cost of the new refuse truck including the CNG system was $317,563, according to a report published in The Oklahoman on Thursday. The ACOG grant of $49,834 was awarded in January of 2018.

“The city of Midwest City appreciates ACOG’s support of our ongoing efforts to improve air quality in our own community as well as the central Oklahoma region,” said Paul Streets, Public Works Director for the city of Midwest City.

The city of Midwest City’s Fleet Services Department has received many accolades over the past few years. The department was the recipient of the 2015 Zach D. Taylor, Jr. Clean Cities Vision Award from the Central Oklahoma Clean Cities Coalition, a group partnership with the Oklahoma Department of Commerce, the Oklahoma State Energy Office and the U.S. Department of Energy. The award is named for ACOG’s late executive director, Zach D. Taylor, Jr.

The city’s Fleet Services Department manages 1,400 pieces of fueled equipment, The fleet is powered by one of the most diverse fuel portfolios in Oklahoma. The city built new infrastructure in 2012 for bio-diesel and ethanol fueling capabilities. It has converted several waste collection trucks and plans to add more CNG vehicles to the fleet. The department is also the first governmental automotive repair facility in Oklahoma to earn the Blue Seal of Excellence recognition from the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence.

The city of Norman, the University of Oklahoma and Cleveland County Rapid Transit also received funding for public-sector fleet alternative fuel vehicles and fueling infrastructure projects.