¡¡¡¡SAN FRANCISCO, Oct. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Pacific Gas and Electric Company today announced that Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC) has won the National Natural Gas Vehicle Achievement Award from the Clean Vehicle Education Foundation (CVEF) and NGVAmerica for its successful effort to significantly improve air quality and reduce fuel costs of its ground transportation operations. The environmental benefits realized through the alternative fuel program are a significant first step towards fulfilling the City of San Jose''s recently announced Green Vision.

    "We congratulate San Jose airport on the tremendous environmental benefits realized by transitioning to natural gas, one of the cleanest burning alternative transportation fuels available today," said Jill Egbert, manager, clean air transportation, PG&E. "We look forward to continuing our decade-long partnership with SJC as we work to improve air quality in the communities we serve."

    PG&E has partnered with SJC since 1998 to consult on incorporating compressed natural gas (CNG) into the Airport''s ground transportation operations. In addition to sharing CNG technical expertise, PG&E assisted the Airport with its grant applications, which have totaled more than $2.5 million to date.

    "Partnerships are critical for our strong environmental commitment to the Silicon Valley community, and PG&E''s cooperation and technical assistance have been very valuable to the success of our alternative fuel program," said Bill Sherry, San Jose aviation director. "We''re delighted to get national recognition for our good work for air quality on behalf of the airport and our neighbors, for it reflects the efforts of our entire team."

    Since 2003, the Airport has been able to eliminate the use of more than 1.1 million gallons of diesel fuel through its conversion of its shuttle bus fleet to compressed natural gas. This has resulted in a fuel cost savings of over $2.6 million dollars since 2003 and reduced vehicle exhaust emissions by over 70 tons annually.

    For nearly two decades, PG&E has been advocating alternative transportation technologies including electric, fuel cell, and natural gas vehicles. In fact, with more than 1,300 vehicles, PG&E maintains the largest utility natural gas fleet in the nation and has helped more than three hundred fleet customers adopt alternative transportation methods. PG&E also operates 36 natural gas fueling stations throughout its northern and central California service territory, 27 of which are open to the public. Over the last 15 years, PG&E''s clean fuel fleet has displaced more than 3.4 million gallons of gasoline and diesel, and helped to avoid 6,000 tons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere.

    For more information about Pacific Gas and Electric Company, please visit the company''s web site at http://www.pge.com

    Source: Pacific Gas and Electric Company
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