Hypothetically speaking..... (refueling co-op concept)

[bakaroma]

I was talking with a friend about staying ahead of the cng price curve. His question follows. Couldn't a bunch of folks get together and create their own fueling station that could handle our pressure needs and then some. Create a corporation of sorts and each be share holders. This is assuming that it become less cost effective to fuel at the current pumps. Say the pumps in Utah go private and the price goes to $3.00 gge. Also say there are fifteen to twenty guys who would be OK filing in the same place regularly. Couldn't land be purchased right where a Questar line is and a "private" station be put in? The would function like or be a LLC. What do you think? Am I completely crazy or is there some merit to the idea? I know the big factor is the differential between the gge at local stations and what it would be straight from Questar. The second factor is driving enough to make the initial cost worthwhile. Any shrewd business/cng folks out there?

[CraziFuzzy]

Re: Hypothetically speaking.....

Similar ideas have been thrown around quite often. The problem is getting enough people who drive teh same area, and all ahve teh capital available to put into it.

[Lakewood90712]

Re: Hypothetically speaking.....

I don't think it would pan out unless you had at least a couple of hundred vehicles in the co-op and at least a part time manager/technician on call.
A commercial cng station is about as far from "maintenance free" as you can get.

Something that would work, is a co-op to purchase fuel as a fleet from whoever takes over the station if they go private. Deep discount from retail price, and zero hassle/expence of owning and running a station. the only cost would be billing and collections.

[Curtis]

Re: Hypothetically speaking.....

Credit Card services, as well as maintenance contracts can all be farmed out.

[Andy-Paul]

Re: Hypothetically speaking.....

The cost of real estate is always an issue, of course, but a station that can support the 42 drivers needed to break even and another 40-60 (I know that's an awfully big range!) cost about US$300K about 18 months back. If individual CNG stations were each cooperatively owned and then the coops formed a "courtesy league" that allowed members of other coops to use their stations at either a discount from the general public or perhaps only to members of other coops (need an anti-trust lawyer to answer that one. JD Rockefeller and the Feds screwed up the whole transport fuel industry but GOOD when Standard Oil went down...) I would certainly go in on one here in NC.

[cngmike]

Re: Hypothetically speaking.....

You could of corse form a factious Business and apply for a business account from CE it's good for about a 40 cent discount off pump price.

[Andy-Paul]

Re: Hypothetically speaking..... (refueling co-op concept)

I am not sure it would even have to be a fictitious business. If a group incorporates themselves as a not-for-profit cooperative, they can then cut a deal with whoever they are buying from. The supplier gets a single check instead of keeping track of a bunch of small transactions, and the co-op gets the benefit of the discount.

Also, just for grins and giggles, I have attached a set of hypothetical bylaws. They are based on the bylaws of a BD coop here in NC, but have not been vetted by any legal authority. The name of the coop came out of my hat when I was looking into the idea of a cooperative NG station out here, but failed to attract sufficient interest. Maybe the tide is turning.

Andy-Paul

PS If those of you in the moderators' chairs wish to remove this, please let me know. I thought I had already posted this information, but senile dementia (and all the drugs I did in the 80s) may be taking its toll.