Illinois stations?

[John Mitton]

Hey gang,

I see from www.cngprices.com that the Chicago area NiSource stations are all closed down. Has anyone filled at Gas Technology Institute in Des Plaines? I have a Fuelman/GASCARD so I'm not worried about card acceptance for this trip. Is it public access, 24/7?

[cnghawk]

Re: Illinois stations?

I have become very interested in cng and have been reading and learning about cng for several months now. I live in Iowa, which has zero public cng stations. I drove from Iowa to Ohio earlier this week on a business trip and passed through the Chicago area on I-80. Having never seen a cng station, I decided to see if I could find one on my trip. An internet search showed only one station near my route and I found it - the NiSource station in Valparaiso, IN.

The station is located on the edge of a parking lot at a large gas company building with many (maybe 100) cars in the parking lot. The station's card reader appeared to be out of order, but the compressor was running, so I assume the station is operational. The station is very compact, with two cng pumps (TGT) on either side of the compressor unit. The price was $1.50. I was hoping to see a vehicle fuel with cng (have never seen that in person, just on youtube), but there was no activity. I wonder how many employees of the gas company are using the cng station in their parking lot.

This experience shows me how far we have to go to develop cng infrastructure in the U.S. On my route through a very large city (Chicago), there was only one small and (apparently) under-utilized cng station.

[Amfuel]

Re: Illinois stations?

Welcome to the forum cnghawk. I'm really glad to see someone in Iowa with interest. There are some cng people around your state but all have home fueling. (the DOA promotes ethanol in IA)

For info on home refueling (or fleet, public) in your area drop me a PM.