CNG Station Now Open to the Public

New Jersey Natural Gas (NJNG) and Waste Management have partnered to open Ocean County's first compressed natural gas (CNG) filling station that's open to the public.

The Toms River facility is part of a $10 million project that will eventually include 3 public stations in the areas that New Jersey Natural Gas serves. Waste Management will use it to fuel their own fleet of trucks, but it's also open to other business fleets and anyone who happens to have a CNG vehicle.

Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno was on hand for the grand opening, and she says the project doesn't have a downside.

"It's a win-win on every level," Guadagno said. "It's environmentally-friendly, it's a win for the gas company, it's a win for any of the fleets and the public that wants to comes here and use this service, it's a win for the locality."

As the station opened last week, the CNG price for the equivalent of one gallon of regular gasoline was $1.42. But NJNG Vice President of Marketing, Customer Services, and Energy Efficiency Thomas Massaro says money isn't the only thing users will be saving.

"It's also much more environmentally-friendly than using traditional petroleum fuels, whether it's gasoline or diesel," Massaro said. "Compressed natural gas burns just much cleaner, estimates are around 30% cleaner than traditional fuels."

The new filling station is in front of the Waste Management facility in Toms River, located at 1298 North Industrial Way.