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Atlanta Gas Light considers proposals for nine new CNG fueling stations
Georgia Public Service Commission-approved program could more than double the public's access to natural gas for vehicle fueling
ATLANTA, May 30, 2012 - Atlanta Gas Light Company announced today that it has received qualified proposals from the City of Atlanta and seven commercial operators to open as many as nine new compressed natural gas (CNG) fueling stations throughout Georgia. The first stations could be open by mid-2013. "The response we received indicates strong support for natural gas to fuel vehicles in Georgia and has the potential to make CNG much easier for many Georgians to access," said Steve Lindsey, President, Atlanta Gas Light. "The domestically abundant supply of natural gas makes it a great time to invest in CNG vehicles to save money, decrease dependence on foreign oil and reduce emissions." Over the next 90 days, each potential station owner must finalize contracts with fleet customers to meet minimum annual CNG purchase requirements at each station. Retailers that are successful in fulfilling the post-award requirements are eligible to sign a service agreement with Atlanta Gas Light and obtain CNG service from the utility under a rate approved by the Commission. "We are very pleased by the response to our request for CNG fueling station proposals," said Ian Skelton, Director of Atlanta Gas Light's natural gas vehicle program. "While additional work remains for the station owners before these proposals can be turned into service contracts, fleet customers now have more certainty regarding the location of new CNG stations in order to make plans to invest in more natural gas-fueled vehicles." The nine proposed CNG fueling stations are to be located in Metro Atlanta, Macon, Savannah and Valdosta. The list of the proposed locations and station owners is provided below: Metro Atlanta
Macon
Savannah
Valdosta
In November 2011, the Georgia Public Service Commission approved a plan submitted by Atlanta Gas Light to invest $11.57 million from the Company's Universal Service Fund (USF) thereby authorizing the utility to install natural gas compression and storage equipment at newly proposed CNG fueling stations. Originally requested by Commissioner Doug Everett (R- Albany), the Atlanta Gas Light CNG Program is intended to help make Georgia a hub of CNG investment in the Southeast. The initiative is the first state-sponsored investment program in the Southeast that allows the utility to add infrastructure to its market without rate impacts on current customers. All site development costs as well as any costs to maintain and operate the equipment will be paid by the station owners and their respective CNG customers. In addition to this effort, Atlanta Gas Light recently launched a program aimed at helping individual consumers and small businesses conveniently fuel their CNG vehicles from their own premise. Authorized by the Commission, the program provides low cost leases of home refueling appliances, known as HRAs, which allow commuters to refill their CNG cars at their own premise overnight. Monthly lease payments will typically be $60, with a minimum five-year commitment for a standard unit, including scheduled maintenance and installation. For more information about the CNG infrastructure and home fueling programs, visitwww.atlantagaslight.com/cngplan. About Atlanta Gas Light About AGL Resources AGL Resources (NYSE: GAS) is an Atlanta-based energy services holding company with operations in natural gas distribution, retail operations, wholesale services, midstream operations and cargo shipping. As the nation's largest natural gas-only distributor based on customer count, AGL Resources serves approximately 4.5 million utility customers through its regulated distribution subsidiaries in seven states. The company also serves more than one million retail customers through its SouthStar Energy Services joint venture and Nicor National, which market natural gas and related home services. Other non-utility businesses include asset management for natural gas wholesale customers through Sequent Energy Management, ownership and operation of natural gas storage facilities, and ownership of Tropical Shipping, one of the largest containerized cargo carriers serving the Bahamas and Caribbean region. AGL Resources is a member of the S&P 500 Index. For more information, visithttp://www.aglresources.com/. Forward-Looking Statements Certain expectations and projections regarding our future performance referenced in this press release are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve matters that are not historical facts, such as statements regarding our future operations, prospects, strategies, financial condition, economic performance (including growth and earnings), industry conditions and demand for our products and services. Because these statements involve anticipated events or conditions, forward-looking statements often include words such as "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "can," "could," "estimate," "expect," "forecast," "future," "goal," "indicate," "intend," "may," "outlook," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "seek," "should," "target," "would," or similar expressions. Forward-looking statements contained in this press release include, without limitation, statements regarding the expected number of CNG stations the Company will open and when these stations will be in operation, our ability to enter into service contracts with certain station owners, the amount of CNG investment in Georgia and the Southeast, quote from Steve Lindsey and our ability to offer low cost leases of home refueling appliances on the terms indicated. Our expectations are not guarantees and are based on currently available competitive, financial and economic data along with our operating plans. While we believe our expectations are reasonable in view of the currently available information, our expectations are subject to future events, risks and uncertainties, and there are several factors - many beyond our control - that could cause results to differ significantly from our expectations. Such events, risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, changes in price, supply and demand for natural gas and related products; the impact of changes in state and federal legislation and regulation including any changes related to climate change; actions taken by government agencies on rates and other matters; concentration of credit risk; utility and energy industry consolidation; the impact on cost and timeliness of construction projects by government and other approvals, development project delays, adequacy of supply of diversified vendors, unexpected change in project costs, including the cost of funds to finance these projects; limits on natural gas pipeline capacity; the impact of acquisitions and divestitures; our ability to integrate successfully operations that we have or may acquire or develop in the future, including those of Nicor Inc., and realize cost savings and any other synergies related to any such integration, or the risk that any such integration could be more difficult, time-consuming or costly than expected; uncertainty of our expected financial performance following the recent completion of the Nicor merger; disruption from the recent Nicor merger making it more difficult to maintain relationships with customers, employees or suppliers; direct or indirect effects on our business, financial condition or liquidity resulting from any change in our credit ratings resulting from the recent merger with Nicor or otherwise or any change in the credit ratings of our counterparties or competitors; interest rate fluctuations; financial market conditions, including disruptions in the capital markets and lending environment and the current economic uncertainty; general economic conditions; uncertainties about environmental issues and the related impact of such issues; the impact of changes in weather, including climate change, on the temperature-sensitive portions of our business; the impact of natural disasters such as hurricanes on the supply and price of natural gas; acts of war or terrorism; the outcome of litigation; and other factors which are provided in detail in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we incorporate by reference in this press release. Forward-looking statements are only as of the date they are made, and we do not undertake to update these statements to reflect subsequent changes. # # # Contacts: Media |